Undergraduate Making an Impact

Kara Rodby has received the Undergraduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Environmental Chemistry. She is nominated for her excellence in assessing the processes that control the bio-uptake of mercury by microbial cells. Kara designed and performed a suite of experiments using E. coli spheroplasts to study the influence of the outer membrane on the internalization of dissolved Hg(II). Kara demonstrated excellence in research by formulating hypotheses, reading avidly the scientific literature while questioning it, and was very successful at troubleshooting problems. In parallel, her academic record is superb, especially in chemistry.

Additionally, in the spring, the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department hosts the “My Research in 180 Seconds” competition.  This competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students in the department.  The competition allows only one slide per individual and they have 3 minutes to talk about their research.  This year the judges were, Michael Goodkind and Carole Braverman from the External Advisory Board, and Emma DeCosta, an Undergraduate Advisor for McCormick.  This year, Kara with her presentation on “Bacterial Mercury Uptake: A Microscopic Approach to a Global Problem” won the competition.