This summer, I had the opportunity to participate in Dr. Randich’s lab at the University of Scranton, where I explored the morphological plasticity of the αproteobacterium, Henriciella pelagia. Throughout this experience, I gained valuable practice using microbiological tools and techniques, including WGA staining, FDAA labeling, phase-contrast microscopy, and more. One highlight was presenting our work at the 2025 PHAGES Conference at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Sharing our research with a community of microbiologists and molecular biologists was incredibly rewarding, as it allowed me to connect with remarkable scientists, learn about their research, and broaden my perspective on the field.
Although rewarding, this experience also came with challenges that ultimately strengthened my growth as a researcher. One of the biggest challenges was learning to be comfortable with inconclusive results and to develop patience for the research process. Science does not always lead to immediate, groundbreaking discoveries, and sometimes it raises new questions instead. I experienced this while using fluorescent microscopy to track bacterial growth and division by incorporating fluorescent labels into the cell surface to better visualize and study cell-division. While the experiment did not yield very clear results, it gave me valuable experience with fluorescent imaging techniques and prepared me to refine and repeat this work in the future.
Overall, I am very grateful for the opportunity to conduct research in the Randich lab and to attend a scientific conference such as PHAGES. This summer not only strengthened my technical skills but also enhanced my desire to pursue research in my future career. I look forward to continuing my journey as a researcher and building on this experience throughout the coming school year.
Eduardo Diazgranados
Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, 2026
Great work! It’s exciting to see your accomplishments and what you learned form the challenges of research.
Your experiences sound extremely interesting! Presenting the work you’ve been doing is an incredible opportunity, and it’s cool to see all the networking you’ve been able to do! I’m excited to see where you go next!
Your research sounds very interesting and it overall seems you worked very hard and were committed to this internship. It seems like you gained some worthy experience. It’s so cool that you were able to present your work at the 2025 PHAGES Conference at the University of Wisconsin–Madison! You must feel very accomplished.