After about two months, I’m back with an exciting blog post! Today I was accepted for a publication in Biosensors, a peer-reviewed journal, for my research during undergrad. The research was performed under the supervision of Dr. Rasmussen, a true role model during my college years! I’m so happy our group was able to accomplish this milestone and that I can say I’m a published scientist!!
On top of my science life, I moved to Ithaca, New York in July, started working at the Agricultural Experiment station (pictures below), completed a research project, and have started a new position with Outreach360. So many different things going on during such crazy times – it’s hard to keep everything under control! The word I would use to describe how I feel most is excited. I started my new position a couple weeks ago as the Director of STEM Curriculum Development for Outreach360’s Virtual Impact Program – leading a small group to create as much quality STEM material for teachers to use this fall. I knew I wasn’t quite done with Outreach360 and I’m glad there was an opportunity I could jump at so soon after I finished up my summer internship with them! 🙂
My 100+ plants that I used for a wide range of experiments in the last two months. 
Contact spectroscopy is similar to a camera, but can identify each wavelength of color and it’s relative intensity. This can provide insight and help differentiate a healthy plant from one with a disease (our hypothesis). 
96-Well Plates are used in various applications in the lab setting, this one in particular was used to confirm the presence of the virus I worked with! (It’s safe for humans though, it just hurts the plant a little!) 
Virally infected Nicotiana benthamiana.
This opportunity gives such balance to my work – allowing creativity and freedom that I otherwise wouldn’t find within the fume hood and laboratory protocols. And working with a great team allows even more content to be made to facilitate learning English and STEM! I find that I get recharged after having a conversation with others on the team, and I’m practicing giving workshops to this team in preparation for the new volunteers this fall, hoping for opportunities to help teachers this fall as well! Overall it has been a roller coaster of ‘adulting’ in Ithaca (the cooking is probably the hardest part), but I’m having fun doing the same things I’ve loved for a long time.
Be well, and tell someone how much you appreciate what they do!
Brandon Roy 