Busy in the Lab

In the past several weeks, I have been challenged by both technical and personal difficulties. As a research intern working in the lab, there were many days where it seemed that the procedure would never work or even worse provide for null results. In these times, I found myself desperate for answers and solutions to my problems. Moreover, being away from home and in an entirely different environment made it difficult to reach out to other collaborators and peers at the University of New Hampshire. Had it not been for my two mentors, Dr. Guo and Dr. Ashline, the summer would had been an extremely difficult one, but their guidance helped keep me motivated and focused on my research. We spent many hours discussing the fundamentals and performing the techniques necessary to succeed in the lab. During the summer, we had an instrument failure that caused the instrument to stop responding to inputs. It required us to take apart the internals of the Ion-Trap where we spent many hours carefully diagnosing it. After many lessons about the hardware that governs the instrument, we were finally able to find the part that was faulty, and we replaced it. It was in this time working side by side with them that I gained the confidence to succeed in the laboratory. This internship gave me the rare opportunity to learn and grow from a research intern to a scientist capable of tackling the important questions of chemistry. For this opportunity, I am most thankful!

Countless samples that were prepared over the summer!

Nolan McLaughlin
Neuroscience

5 Replies to “Busy in the Lab”

  1. Hi Nolan! Living in a new place and having to make new friends is like being a freshman all over again, but it sounds like you were able to handle it. I hope that this experience helped you navigate the research you want to continue in the future, and if not, at least you know how to build and Ion-Trap. It’s wonderful that you had mentors that helped you grow as a person and a researcher. I can’t wait to see your poster and hear more about your experience in person!

  2. Hey Nolan,

    I can relate to your struggles in the lab! I too had days in which my experiments ended with no results, so I understand how discouraging it can be. I am glad that you enjoyed your experience!

    Tara

  3. Hey Nolan,

    I know how it feels to work all day on one project only to end up with no results. I am glad that you were able to keep working because working in a lab can also be very rewarding!

    Tara

  4. I found this blog so informative and I like the royal experience summer internship program. It’s good that you had mentors that helped you grow as a person and a researcher.

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