Hello! My name is Leanh Nguyen, and I am a rising junior at Rice University. I have just finished another week of my time at NEWT’s REU, and I had an informative and exciting week with my mentors and peers. But first, I hope everyone had an amazing 4th of July holiday.
On Wednesday, Naomi and I went to a mass spectrometer training at Rice’s BRC building. Hopefully, we can use this machine in future tests for various substances, specifically arsenic.
Rice BRC
Additionally, for the arsenic detection project, Naomi and I began setting up our arsenic standards and our dedicated laptop for testing while we waited for the final parts of the Rodeostat to arrive.
Arsenic Standards
Lastly, we held another group discussion with students from UTEP regarding Hueco Tanks and colonias, specifically on the social and mental aspects of water scarcity in the “Global North.” The referenced articles had some interesting points, and I hope we can discuss more about them in the near future, such as perceived versus measured water quality and its application to our Hueco Tanks project.
Once again, thank Dr. Jorge Loyo, Dr. Silvia Chavez, and Dr. Eva Deemer for this amazing opportunity and for all of the guidance and knowledge they have given me.
Thank you, Leanh, for sharing!