• What new ideas, challenges, or other issues have you encountered with regard to your project (this might include data collection, information that contradicts your assumptions or the assertions of others, materials that have enriched your understanding of the topic or led you to change your project, etc.)? How have these ideas or challenges shaped the bigger picture of your research? Has the scope or focus of your topic changed since you began this project? If so, how?

A large challenge that I have encountered during my project is the timeframe of the procedure. I completed the first round of my experiments and my data was inconsistent with previous lab member’s data and data from the literature, and therefore I thought that my procedure was incorrect. However, we learned that the calcium chloride reagent in the lab was impure, and therefore interfered with the results I was getting. By accounting for this error, we learned that my data is actually correct, however not dependable if our goal is to publish a paper. This has helped me to understand how precise and attuned to the small details I must be in order to avoid errors in my data. 

Where does your research take place--or where is a favorite place to conduct your research? Post a photo!

This is my bench in the lab!