For chemistry major and honors student Emily Pacek, undergraduate research was the primary reason she chose Ohio Northern University.
“I love experiments, gathering data, and discovering new things,” she says. “I chose to major in chemistry for a simple reason: everything is chemistry. Across all fields and industries, chemists are there.”
While at ONU, Emily worked in Dr. Chris Spiese’s research lab on a project investigating the possible sources of phosphine gas – traditionally considered a sign of early life – on the planet Venus.
“What we may be able to prove with this data is that phosphine on Venus does not indicate the presence of life, but rather meteors on its surfacing reacting to form the gas,” she said.
As part of the project, Emily used a lab instrument called a gas chromatograph to separate and analyze compounds, as well as a mass spectrometer to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions.
“I enjoyed how hands-on the project was,” says Emily. “I got to work with a variety of instrumentation, which is my favorite part about lab work. I truly felt like I was getting valuable experience every hour I spend in the lab.”
Something that surprised her was just how much repetition is required in research.
“A lot of times, I needed to repeat the same experiments over and over again with slight variations in order to get legible results,” she explains, “but that’s part of research! Perseverance is key.”
In addition, Emily gained valuable experience that opened doors to further learning opportunities, such as a summer research experience at Emory University that she describes as life-changing.
“All aspects of research are instrumental in being a good scientist,” Emily states. “I have not only learned hard skills like lab techniques, presentation, and reporting skills, but there are many soft skills I've learned that are applicable as well. Research requires problem solving, communication skills, and patience.”