Throughout the Kenan process the most valuable resource is definitely the Fellow-Mentor relationship. I had the honor of working with microbiologist Dr. Julia Stevens in the Genomics Lab of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. While Julia was my primary mentor, we also had Dr. Julie Urban working in the lab with us most days. Both Julie and Julia were awesome during the summer internship and have been very helpful throughout the entire Kenan process.

Upon entering the museum on the first day, I was immediately overwhelmed as Julie discussed her plans for our cohort in an effort to expand the dandelion project that she started the previous year. She used such technical terms and pointed out all of the intimidating equipment that we would be using and it was a whole lot to take in. However, after a short tutorial on using micropipettes effectively under her guidance, I quickly realized that she understood that none of us (myself, Courtney or Jennifer) had the lab experience that she had so she would be very patient and take the time to effectively explain how to use the equipment and processes that she used each day.

While Julia was definitely the expert on using the lab materials, our collaboration switched as we discussed lesson implementation. Suddenly, Courtney, Jennifer and I became the experts and Julia looked to us for advise on how to bring her research into classrooms around the state and across the country. We all proposed ideas and ultimately came up with awesome implementation ideas that were a mixture of all of our thoughts.

I believe that the Fellow-Mentor relationship is definitely a lasting one, especially when projects can continue year to year and things may need to be revisited and reviewed. I plan on continuing Julia’s research in my classroom for as long as I am in a science classroom and will encourage others to join me!