S-STEM/TRAIN Scholar Kimberly Merrill's Blog

 Networking....is awkward and uncomfortable.  BUT, like aquiring any skill, it becomes easy and natural with practice.  I dreaded reaching out to a mentor on LinkedIn. However, my message was really well-received, and I got some extremely helpful insight into a potential career path and research opportunities.  When I was sending the message, I felt like I was bothering this professional, and she would be annoyed with my questions. I had quite the opposite reaction, and she was ecstatic to tell me all about what she is working on. Now, I've established my name with someone who could help me connect with professors in graduate programs.  The NCUIRE Symposium was equally awkward. There's a bunch of people standing around staring at you and waiting for you to approach them. However, I wanted to be supportive and network, so I would walk up to someone and ask questions about their poster. I had NO IDEA how many cool research projects were happening at ASU West. Some...

Before Dr. Renee Bhatti-Klug spoke with us, I had some understanding of cultural intelligence. I knew it was important to be inclusive and accept the perspectives and traditions of other cultures. However, in her talk, she provided us with guidance to get a deeper understanding of why cultural intelligence and cultural responsiveness is important. She also taught us how to incoporate that into future projects and workplaces. There are three components to cultural intelligence: cultural openness, cultural awareness, and cultural responsiveness. Openness requires the curiosity value. Awareness requires empathy. Responsiveness requires compassion, a very important leadership quality. Eventually, the goal is implement a plan for appropriate behavior that leads to cultural opportunities. The outcome if this is accomplished is a workplace or environment where people of all cultures feel included and equal. There is also diversity present with many views and opinions at the table that are res...

Dakota Webber from ASU's career services discussed the importance of building your professional identity and then marketing it. There are multiple platforms you can do this through, such as LinkedIn or Handshake. These are great mediums to grow your reputation and spread it to employers and peers in your community or field.  One key component in building your professional identity is finding key words or a specific niche that makes you unique. For example, instead of listing yourself as a "computer science major" you could instead market your self as a "computing major interested and/or experienced in sql queries."  Another feature of a professional identity is your communication and outreach efforts. People will remember if you reach out to them with questions or showing interest in a career, research, or program. Also, if you connect with groups, people, and other professionals through the career platforms, at career fairs, or just in passing it will leave an ...

 Oops! I didn't take any pictures.  I talked to two transfer students that I didn't already know. Their major anxieties were similar to mine when I was in their position. Some of the degrees are very broad and have different track focuses. It can be intimidating trying to chose which focus you want and what degree to commit to. No one told me until I was two semesters in at ASU, that you can mix track focus electives and don't actually have to pick a track. I take most of my classes from the conservation biology track in environmental science, but have included electives from other tracks like science communications, ecosystem/global change, and business/leadership. There are some benefits to mixing electives. It gives you an idea of areas you like or don't like. It also diversifies you from other students in your major. Many agencies and employers want well-rounded employess that have leadership knowledege and commmunication skills, so it doesn't hurt to have those...

 I am excited and annoyed about Fall 2023.  It will be my final semester before graduation, but I was led to believe Spring 2023 would be my final semester. It turns out a few of the classes I took at community college didn't transfer and give me credit at ASU. So, I have to take an extra semester to take geology, an upper division c/g, and an upper division ethics.  Although it seemed like a setback initially, I am a little relieved to have one more semester to figure out the post-graduation plan. After much deliberation, I think I've finally decided that I really want a masters degree. However, it is turning into a more complicated process than I originally anticpated. First, I need to figure out where I want to get the degree, what I want to research, and who I want to work under (how the heck do I do that?!). Then, I need to figure out the logistics like finances and if it is even an attainable option. I have a daughter, so I have to be able to not only afford tuition...

    Throughout my undergraduate education and research, using spreedsheets has become like putting on pants. It provides many useful recording and analytical tools to manage. However, this semester I was introduced to relational databases, which seemed like pants that were much more difficult to get on. At first, I was really confused about everything from the terminlogy to the navigation. After working through the assignments and projects, I feel a lot more confident in understanding relational databases. I've found that they remove a lot of redundancy in data, and I particularly like tables that break it down in to smaller parts. Relational databases also are nice if you're sharing access with others and if it needs to be modified by others. Spreedsheets have more repeitition and aren't great for combining related data as concisely.      In class, we had to explore databases and apply our knowledge in a database project. The first project was to take a csv of ...

This course has enlightened me about the many ways I haven't been taking care of my mental or physical health. I was probably already aware of these deficits, but didn't view them as a pressing issue. School seems like such a temporary effort that matters of sleep, anxiety, and self-care become perceived as "part of the journey."  Stress, scheduling life, needing more time, and developing a healthy sleep schedule don't resolve when you graduate, although. Thus, I felt that I should endeavor to create positive habitats and thinkng now, that I can carry into my STEM career with the exception of sleep.  I have decent time management, but I simply don't have enough hours between school, work, and parenting to sleep 8 hours every night. Therefore, sleep in the one thing that maybe when I don't have a job AND school there may be a little more time for. I am aware of the implications it is having on my health, but I just need to tough through a couple more semest...

 It has been difficult to not see Daring Greatly by Dr. Brown as an attack on my perspecitves of life. However, her challenge towards normative shame culture is perhaps the exact ideas I needed to consider.  First, I recognize now that my notion that I am not enough and need to simply work harder to be enough is more detrimental than motivational. I have always considered myself a wholehearted person, but according to Dr. Brown's definition, I am furthest from that description. My lack of a sense of worthiness drove me to excel in academics and be highly competitive. The down fall of this strategy to high achievement, although, was my inability to cope with failure and an eventual, overwhleming burn-out. I will not sleep, overexert my brain/body, and disengage with any self-care/social events to make sure I have the best grades, performance reviews, or be the mom with the most elaborate snacks at the 1st grade bake sale. I don't know if breaking the thought that I have be the ...

My upbringing, family, and culture has hevaily influenced my mindset. I grew up in a very rural area on a farm. I had no neighbors and didn't live close enough to friends to have playdates. It was often just my siblings and parents working outside in the day and playing sports or riding horses in the evening. Opening huge metal irrigation gates, hauling giant hay bales, and climbing trees gave me experiences and lessons that I don't think many children in urban arease get exposed to. I feel like I developed a different preception of the world and life, which is sometimes a little isolating. However, I think it has benefitted my educational path in science by understanding there are different lifestyles and environments than just what is perceived in the city.  My dad was an old rancher that raised us in cowboy culture. It's a very proud culture rooted in resilience, hard work, and plain ol' toughness. Although criticized and misunderstood, the culture has many values li...

My educational journey has taught me as much about myself as the material and knowledge learned in my degree field. Reflecting upon Carol Dweck's presentation on mindset, I believe I have a blend of the growth and fixed. I have always considered intelligence to be a separate trait from apt to learning. Alike to Dweck's comments on growth mindset, I valued the effort put towards academics.  Despite believing I can improve through perserverance, there have been moments that my fixed mindset wasn't harmful. I agree with Dweck that anyone can learn more efficiently with a growth mindset. However, I believe some people are naturally gifted in different cirriculums. For example, I have never studied for a math test and put little effort towards learning it. Yet, I am always the student with the highest math grade.  I was fortunately not a victim of stereotype threat as found in "Problems in the pipeline: Stereotype threat and women's achievement in high-level math course...

 Although college may seem like just an institution to gain knowledge about a particular field and master the involved information, it is much more of an experience where students learn valuable skills and practices that carry over into their career. During my college experience, I've faced challenges specific to my major and the overall secondary education rite of passage. Throughout overcoming these obstacles and struggles, strengths and assets have developed within me that will be desirable to employers. Below, I will go over some skill and experiences that can transfer into a career one day: 1. Time managament.      College students face due dates constantly, most of which require employing time management strategies. It seems like a magic trick balancing jobs, full course loads, family/friends, and extracurricular activities. Freshman year is often challenging figuring out what works and doesn't work with time restraints. Procrastinating and overloading is a gra...

It seemed like I would never settle on a degree. I started my higher education pursuing a degree and career in journalism, which seemed odd considering my strong math background. It wasn't until a general biology class that I realized I really loved learning about natural sciences.  Despite that epiphany, it didn't necessarily narrow my interests down to a single major. Many areas of biology, math, and other sciences all were fascinating. Biology and particularly ecology seemed to be what really grasped my attention. Thanks to the guidance of some mentors and to the TRAIN program, I am settled on and nearing the end of a bachelor of science degree in environmental science at ASU.  I've had the opportunity to conduct research in areas of forestry and ecology. During these experiences, I genuinely felt I was where I belonged. Although I would've never picked it as a career three or more years ago, research is now a passion I wish to pursue. My favorite thing to do is fiel...

      In my last blog post, I touched on the presence I have online. Personal social media pages and this blog comprised my main presence. I don't always enjoy having social media. It primarily serves as a way to connect with my family and long distance friends. There is a lot of unnecessary "drama" or sharing of strong opions on social media that can sometimes feel more stressful than useful. I set my Instagram and Facebook to "private" and adjusted my settings to deter some of the content and people I prefer not to see.       I kept my Twitter on a public setting for professional reasons. I figured one day it may come in useful in connecting with others in the scientific/educational community. I've also been told that many employers are using Twitter to advertise job openings. My only 'desire' in terms of social media presence is to have less, at least on my personal pages. When I have time, I will likely reduce my friends list to only those I r...

Hello Everyone!  Currently, my largest online presence is on social media. I use Facebook and Instagram to connect with long distance family and friends. However, I do have both accounts set to private so that it is exclusively seen by select people of my choosing. Also, I have a Twitter account, but I do not enjoy the platform nor have the capacity to keep up with it. I estimate I haven't opened it in  7+ years. Unfortunately, I am starting to realize that many employers and busineses utilize Twitter now. I may have to eventually jump on board.   I recently Googled myself for the purpose of this post. My findings didn't result in any information about myself. There seems to be MANY Kimberly Merrills, of which, I don't seem to signigicantly stand out. In a way, I really like that I don't appear on a search engine. However, as I start to move into finding a career, this is probably not a great attribute.  Lastly, the only other presense I show on the worldwide we...

  Hello for the last time this semester everyone!     I wrapped up my project the way I had hoped. I really enjoyed working on the bat project and felt a lot more confident about my final paper this semester than last.  I have two classes I am taking virtually this summer: geology and statistics. In the fall, I will start at ASU. I think I have all my TRAIN transfer things completed.  As I've mentioned before, this summer I will be in Flagstaff working under Dr. Hofstetter on bark beetles in the Colorado Plateau. I was warned to bring a lot of rain jackets. So, it looks like I need to do some shopping. I don't even own an umbrella. I am really excited for the lab work but equally excited for the field work.  I think I've finished out the semester with A's. I'm still awaiting grades on two of my classes. I took chem, sustainability, geography, and physics. Let's just say, I am happy the semester is almost over. Also, I took the echo meter out last weekend an...

 Hello Everyone! It is almost poster time. I feel so much readier to present this semester than last.  Here is my conclusion for my paper: The specific genetic markers in the MCH protein, 3aa and 5aa, increase bat’s ability to host viruses asymptomatically. MCH proteins are necessary molecules for the functionality of multiple mammalian immune systems. However, included in the complex are receptors that cause inflammatory responses and release of killer t-cells to destroy invading pathogens. Although further research is necessary to understand how, the presence of 3aa and 5aa alleles in the peptide chain of the MCH protein of bats and the absence of these markers in humans explain the disparity in inflammatory response to viruses.             Biologically it would appear disadvantageous to lack immune response to invading pathogens. Conversely, bat’s contain similar MHC receptors as humans but contain genetic markers tha...

Greetings and Happy May! Wow, did this semester fly by for you all, too? It has been by far the busiest, most challenging semester. I think I am taking 16-17 credits, have been working part-time, applying for scholarships, getting set-up at ASU, trying to collect bat data, and get everything in place for my REU in Flagstaff this summer. Also, I have almost finished a full-year helping/partly teaching Mia's first year at Kindergarten, which has likely been the hardest thing, thus far.  That being said, it is Teacher's Appreciation Week. Thank you so much Dr. Chapman, Josh, and Matt for all of your guidance and support! I really value all of the knowledge and advice you've given me.  I'm so excited for this REU. My mentor will be Dr. Hofstetter, who I actually read about in one of my biology classes long before I saw he picked me to work under him this summer. We are going to be working with bark beetles, climate change, wildfire impact, etc. I've been buffing up on t...

 Hello! A bit out of order but, I would like to share my abstract to see if anyone has any suggestions. If you read last week's blog, it will tell you my partial results. I just wanted to see if the abstract is appropriate so I can start building a really solid paper: Abstract             Chiropterans are the only winged mammals in existence. Flight capability aren’t bats’ only distinguishable feature from other members of Mammalia. Notoriously, different species of bats harbor multiple zoonotic viruses asymptomatically. Also, genomic research has shown unique antiviral response characteristics due to a critical protein difference in bats immune systems.             In order to determine correlative influences of genetic immune system distinctions on viral susceptibility, comparative literature reviews have been conducted. Primarily, an investigation of viral transmissi...

 Hello Everyone!  Through literature review, I have concluded the following thus far:  “The strength of evidence that bats are a reservoir of zoonotic viruses is undeniable.” (Wynne and Wang, 2013, p.1). The question remains as to why these species of Chiroptera are hosts of so many viruses. According to Streiker and Gilbert (2020), through evolution, bats obtained wings as homologous structures of hands of humans or fins of dolphins. While advantageous to fly, reproductive yield of the mother’s became limited to the amount of young that could be carried on their backs, which is one to two cubs per year. In view of reproduction, individuals with longer lifespan would genetically be selected upon. This implication alone can explain the genetic adaptation of low rates of tumorigenesis in bats.  Wendy Barclay in “Receptor for bat influenza virus uncovers potential risk to humans,” explains that major histocompatibility complex, MHC, proteins are similar amongst a vari...

 Hello Everyone, I have been having issues with the google sheet for the habitat survey of the bat recordings. Despite our efforts, I am just having to create a new sheet to be copied over.  I have been trying to focus my paper for the bat project. In my search to analyze the greatest cause that answers my research question, I found out that my hypothesis was partially right. There is a genetic and cellular factor that causes some viruses to easily jump from bats or birds to other animals. I believe last week I discussed there may be a correlation to bats tumorigenesis. When bats emerged during evolution with the distinction of flight, their young required to be carried on the backs of their mothers. Therefore, their reproductive yield is 1-2 cubs per year. With small litters per bat natural selection acted on lifespan. Some scientists believe this is where the genetic cells that deter cancerous growths came from.  In correlation, these same oncolytic cells could be why b...