A TRIP into Scientific Research by Arushi Vignesh

Hey everyone! I am Arushi Vignesh, a sophomore at Conestoga High School. As a STEM enthusiast and aspiring scientist, being able to perform independent research on a topic of my choice to answer a question fascinates me. I am involved in TRIP to combine my passion for science with my curiosity about real-world events to perform hands-on research. I am very excited to spend the next few months exploring life as a research scientist at TRIP!

In school, I am involved in Science Olympiad, Robotics, and am co-president of the Girl Up chapter at my school/community. Girl Up is an international organization dedicated to improving girls’ rights to STEM education and expanding girls’ opportunities for leadership. Outside of school, I am a badminton player and have been playing since I was 7. I also randomly developed an interest in coding a few years ago and have since learned Python and Java.

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After noticing the gender gap in programming and computer science, my friends and I started an initiative in my community called Magenta Programmers. We provide free coding workshops to girls in middle school in order to encourage them to gain an interest in computer science. In my free time, I like hanging out with friends, watching Breaking Bad on Netflix, and eating Chick-Fil-A (yes, I know, not the healthiest option). 

Yesterday was my first in-lab day at TRIP. Although I have performed science experiments in school before, I have never been in a … research lab. I got to learn about and use equipment that I had never heard of before, for example, a micropipette. I got to brush up on some math skills (always fun) while doing conversion and dilutions in order to get the correct amount of a substance. And the best part, I got assigned my first experimental question: How do black cohosh and disrupted circadian rhythms affect female fertility? To prepare for this experiment I learned how to make fly food and add the correct amount of drug and stressor. I am amazed at how much I learned in the first day alone and am excited for what the rest of this program entails!

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