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Dear Future Researcher,

What Is Undergraduate Research?


Undergraduate research is an opportunity where a student pursuing their Bachelor’s degree can become an assistant to a research team here on Texas A&M campus. Actually, this is just one form of undergraduate research. There are many other facets of undergraduate research that one can explore while pursuing their undergraduate degree. You can look at many different programs outside of through internships, REUs, and more. You can find research opportunities through a mentor, an online search, or even the Texas A&M Career Center, which is included with our tuition.


How Did I Find Research?



My name is Joshua Moses and I am a part of the Dulin lab in the Department of Biology. I am assisting Dr. Miriam Aceves, a postdoc in the lab, and will soon lead my own independent project under graduate student Ashley Tucker. I began as a student pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. I knew that I wanted to get into undergraduate research because it would not only boost my resume but also give me practical experience for my future career goals. When beginning my journey, I emailed many professors whose research aligned with my original career goals of becoming a physical therapist. That is when my past supervisor encouraged me to email Dr. Dulin. Luckily, the cards were in my favor and the Dulin lab was looking for another undergraduate student. I went through the application and interview process, and now I am here. I am forever grateful to the Dulin lab and my mentor Miriam for their guidance and trust in my work.


My First Week of Lab


I was absolutely terrified during my first week in the lab. This was expected, because I came in with a very limited knowledge of spinal cord injury or stem cell biology. I found myself constantly on a Google binge trying to find the answers to my own questions because I was too afraid to ask them aloud. However, I soon found that the environment of the Dulin lab was warm and welcoming and they encouraged questions.If I could change anything about my first week, I would have stepped out of my shell

more and allowed myself to explore the science. My bashfulness kept me in a box for a little while, but that is okay because my first week allowed me to become comfortable with my new life in research. Science is wonderful and can lead you to many different paths and now being in lab I truly understand this.Within my first week in the lab, I was thrown into dissections and behavioral testing, which I am grateful for. Both are kind of “my thing” now. Being pushed into these skills early on eradicated my fear of learning new skills in lab.



Something I Have Gotten Weirdly Good At


Perfusions. For some reason, I have a knack for perfusion, which is the process of passing fluid through the circulatory system. For our lab we circulate a special li

quid that will fix the tissue before dissection. For this skill, it is best to have steady hands because it helps when guiding the instruments into their proper places. On my very first day, I was able to perfuse all of the necessary samples, which is unusual for a new student. However, I learned that everyone that joins lab gains a special knack for something. Mine is perfusions, but my partner Katie has a knack for cryosectioning. Ashley is phenomenal at mounting, and Miriam is just great at everything.


Things I Learned


One thing I did not know before this lab was that “acute” versus “chronic” refer to different time periods after spinal cord injury. Acute means that the injury was more recent, whereas chronic means more time has passed. I also did not know that most people with a spinal cord injury are in the chronic phase of injury. Also, I learned that the chronic environment of a spinal cord can create an environment that potentially blocks axon regeneration. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what I have learned in the Dulin lab. However, the most interesting fact that I learned is that the spinal cord does not extend all the way to your sacral (tail) bone. Right below your last rib to your upper lumbar region, your spinal cord becomes the cauda equina, and that is where most doctors perform spinal taps for diagnosis of certain diseases.


In Summary…


DO RESEARCH! You will learn so much not only about the subject but yourself as a researcher. You will learn work/life balance. You will experience what could be your everyday life if you choose to follow this career. You will forge unbreakable bonds with your lab family if you allow and find your own place in research. Most importantly, you will be able to follow the science!


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