Cornell University
Office of Undergraduate Biology

Hello everyone! 

After a whirlwind couple of days, I'm writing this from my apartment in Ithaca! As I reflect on my summer, I can't help but think about how lucky I was to have the opportunity to live and work in Philadelphia. My internship at Penn was absolutely nothing like I expected it to be, but I've come to realize that this made it even better than I thought it could have been. I learned to deal with adversity and failure, and I also experienced the happiness that comes with success and perseverance. I also surprised myself with how quickly I adapted to city life; within a week of moving to Philly, this country girl was riding the subways and navigating the city streets like a pro!

My internship ended on a good note. On Thursday, I gave a presentation on my work at a symposium to mark the end of the USSP program. My presentation went very well, and it was also fun to hear about the work that the other interns did this summer! I was very impressed by everyone's presentations, and it was cool to see everyone being all professional and scientific :) 

(Me and my friend Clarissa in our professional attire after giving our presentations! Remember this location?? See Blog 3 if you don't :) )

After the symposium, the USSP program sent all of the interns, PIs and postdocs out to dinner at a Thai restaurant near the Penn campus. This dinner was so much fun! It was great to talk to the PIs in an informal setting; they were super interested in hearing about our career plans and offering advice. The program also had a little "graduation" ceremony at this dinner, where all the interns were recognized for our hard work and given diplomas to certify our completion of the program.

(My friends and me with our diplomas!)

On Friday, my Mom came to Philadelphia to pick me up! In addition to moving me out of my apartment, we were able to see some of my favorite sites in Philly before heading home. I loved showing my mom around the city, and I can now add "Philadelphia Tour Guide" to my resume :)

(Me with the Liberty Bell!)

It was very bittersweet to see this summer end. I made great friends with the other interns, as well as with my labmates and neighbors; I'm going to miss seeing them everyday, and I was sad to leave my project behind. However, this experience made me very excited to return to Cornell for senior year! I am looking forward to taking more upper level biology classes, as well as for resuming work on my research project and finishing my grad school applications. Wish me luck! :)

I just want to thank everyone who read my blog this summer! I hoped that you enjoyed reading about my experiences as much as I loved both making and documenting them! Best of luck to everyone with the new school year and with making your own adventures :)

-Lindsay

Hey everyone!

I just finished week 9 here in Philly, which means that I only have 1 week left! This past week was super busy, as I've been working to tie up loose ends on my project, finish my talk and enjoy my last few days living in the city.

Tuesday marked our LAST lecture for the USSP program! It was a very interesting talk about the specifics of tumorigenesis and its relation to cancer; it was really cool to learn about the newest breakthroughs in cancer research and the work that is being done to cure the disease. I have learned a lot about cancer biology this summer, which is not surprising considering that Penn is home to the Abramson Cancer Center. Abramson is one of the top cancer treatment and research centers in the country, and people come from all over to be treated there. Getting to interact with scientists and physicians who are associated with this center has been a highlight of the program for me, and it has made me very interested in cancer biology as a possible career path.

In the lab, I gave my final talk at lab meeting as practice for the symposium this coming Thursday. I was super nervous, but it was a great experience and my labmates gave me really good feedback about my talk that will make the final symposium a breeze!

I've also been doing lots of cell work in the lab, which involves infecting macrophages (a type of immune cell) with strains of Salmonella bacteria and then quantifying the amount of cell death by determining the amount of lactate dehydrogenase in the cell culture. Its a very complicated process, but I'm enjoying it a lot and learning so much about cell biology, immunology and microbiology! I did 2 of these assays this past week, and I will do 1 more in my final week, along with some DNA extractions. 

I've been so busy with work that I haven't done much else over the past week, but I thought I'd close my penultimate post with some of my favorite pictures of Philly from this summer.

Thanks for reading, and the next time you hear from me I'll be in ITHACA! :)

-Lindsay

(With my friend Clarissa on the turtle statue in Clark Park)

(The Ben Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River)

(The steps of the Independence Hall Museum)

(The Philadelphia Museum of Art)

(The Wharton School and Philadelphia from the 22nd floor of my dorm!)

Hello everyone :)

I just finished my LAST day of the BioRes Program!  I cannot believe that 10 weeks have flown by so quickly!! :(

Last week was full of fun activities!  Our lab took our annual field trip on Tuesday.  We went hiking in Upper Treman State Park.  Some of my lab members enjoyed looking for wildlife while I just enjoyed the company of my lab and some nice warm Ithaca sun.  We then went to Mr. Chicken in Watkins Glenn for lunch.  This restaurant is a tradition for us and is quite well known. After refueling, we went go-karting.  Let it be known that I won!! We are a very competitive lab when it comes to go-karting. :)

The Hairston lab takes a break to take a picture!

The students of the lab!

And the moment came for me to analyze my results...I performed statistical tests and ran my data through a program that normalized my results so I could compare different treatments. I GOT RESULTS!! AND THEY WERE REALLY GOOD!! I got the opposite of what I expected but that is not a bad thing at all.  I will continue with these experiments during the school year since I need more replicates to validate my results.

I also gave my final presentation at the Summer Institute for Life Sciences Symposium. The event was so large that they had two sessions running at once!  It was great being able to see other students present their work and to hear about their progress.  I was really excited and a bit nervous but I am really glad I gave my presentation!!  My whole lab, my advisor, and my mom came to watch my talk.  It meant a lot :)  After the talk was over, BioRes gave us Purity Ice Cream to celebrate.

Some of the BioRes Program!

Now that my program has ended, I am back home with my parents and two dogs!!

Cleo (the Giant Schnauzer), Gracie (the Yorkie), and I watching the Olympics that my parents recorded for me.  I am huge fan of gymnastics.

Gracie Mae giving her "smile" after I got home!

For the next week, I will be relaxing at home (and finishing my final research report for the program).  I'm really glad I had so many opportunities this summer to further my love of science including writing this blog for you all.  It was really fun to talk about my weeks.  If any of you have any questions regarding science, life at Cornell, or anything, feel free to e-mail me!!  Enjoy the rest of your summer! :)