This year Pheronym hosted its second UC Davis AI Institute Fellow. We were delighted to see how third-year undergraduate student Willow Jungling, developed skills to be an independent scientist. Like many undergraduate students, Willow did not have the opportunity for hands-on laboratory training in the past three years due to COVID-19 shutdowns. This summer was Willow’s first laboratory experience.
We were impressed by Willow’s enthusiasm for learning. She improved her skills so fast. For example, within four weeks of the fellowship, she was able to plan and start her own experiments relevant to AI Institute goals with guidance and feedback from all of us.
We were glad that our experiences were mutual. Here is what Willow wrote about her experience. “1- I enjoyed being in a hands-on learning environment. Being able to watch somebody complete an experiment and then replicate it on your own is an amazing learning experience. 2- I enjoyed the independence. After training for a while, I was able to be independent and work on my own for select experiments. I feel that this allowed me to grow my confidence working in a lab setting. 3- I enjoyed learning about in vitro and in vivo fermentation. Being able to work with both types has allowed me to see the pros and cons of each.”
We have loved watching her progress. We look forward to seeing Willow do great things.