Carmen Kuan

Rising Senior
Environmental Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CEINT Research Site: Hinton Lab, Duke University

The CEINT REU program was a valuable experience because I was able to gain research skills in nanoscience as well as add the experience to my resume for my pursuits in grad school and career opportunities. I met a lot of great people with the same passion for science and research as I do, which made getting along much easier since we were able to discuss and help each other in our research projects. My post-doc mentor in the Hinton lab was very helpful throughout the internship and gave me a lot of good advice about graduate school and finishing up my last year in college. Dr. Kelly, the CEINT program director, is very committed to the program and will help the interns out in any way they need. The orientation at the beginning of the internship helped me to get to know my fellow interns and settle into Durham, NC for the summer. Overall, the CEINT REU program is a quality research and personal experience.

Career Impacts and Plans

The CEINT REU has provided me with additional research experience that has helped to ready my resume for applications to graduate school or jobs in the research industry and also motivated me to pursue graduate studies within a few years after I graduate. Graduate school plans: I intend to study the interaction between hydrology and ecology in wetlands and work towards my Ph.D.. I will be applying to Stanford, UC Berkeley, Duke, UNC, and UGA.