I am a third year Biochemistry, Pre-Med and Individualized Studies major. I have been a part of Saxton Lab for over a year now focusing on this project. Through the experience for preparing for the URF, I have learnt countless skills that have prepared me to face real world challenges. 

🧠 I was able to use Critical thinking in understanding the bigger picture and learning on where to focus on the details. This was mainly acheived through the bargraphs I made. Some of which focused on trends surrounding all sites and seasons while others looked for trends in Proteobaceria - which was the most abundant phylum found in our sample. 

⭐I was able to have a deeper appreciation of work ethic. Having a routine based around being in lab and exploring new findings in our data helped me see the impact of consistent work over time all while being a student. 

💻Having a primarily dry lab, allowed me to gain hands on experience on emerging softwares like R studio. I was also able to use packages within it like phyloseq and ggplot2 which have been the foreront of microbial research. Being able to have this comfortability with technology prepares me to use it in other datasets in the future.