Maggie Swerdloff

Rising Junior
Biochemistry / French
New College of Florida
CEINT Research Site: Labs of Dr. Mélanie Auffan, Dr. Samuel Legros and Dr. Lorette Scifo
CEREGE, Aix-en-Province, France

I absolutely loved living in France and working at the CEREGE this past summer. The CEREGE is truly an international research institution, with many grad students and research scientists from institutions outside of France. Lab research was primarily conducted in English, but I enjoyed learning the French terms for the instruments and having lunch every day with the lab members. We spoke and taught each other French as we enjoyed many dishes typical of the southern region. One of the best parts of learning and working in France was being able to collaborate with the researchers in the lab and see how such a variety of diverse perspectives contributed to the overall goals of CEINT. Learning the researchers' philosophies and experimentation strategies was especially eye-opening as this was my first in-lab research experience. It was rewarding to know that the studies I worked on contributed directly to create environmentally sustainable nanotechnology.

Career Impacts

The CEINT internship broadened my horizons in more ways than I could have imagined. I started this internship with fundamental knowledge of what nanoparticles are from a physical-chemistry perspective, as well an understanding of environmental studies from previous field-work. This internship was a beautiful blend of the two fields and really opened up my mind to the power of such interdisciplinary research. As a result of this CEINT internship, I plan to continue research in this context as a PhD at institutions in the US and abroad!