Flying Away With TRIP by Ryan Parsaee

TRIP has finally come to an end. I don’t even remember how many weeks it’s been, definitely double digits. I have picked up a lot of skills throughout this journey that will benefit me in the future. I have also picked up a lot of skills that I will probably never use again, but that's okay. Sorting on ice will definitely haunt my dreams though. I have faced many challenges throughout TRIP that have elevated my lab skills significantly.

I am very pleased with my data that I have gathered from my independent project over the past couple of weeks. I explored the effect of Kratom on fly health, and did that through the lens of fertility as a particular aspect of health. To do this, I employed four flasks of exponentially higher and higher doses of Kratom and performed the male and female fertility assay to assess the effects of the drugs on the animals. I found that Kratom produces catastrophic effects on fly fertility and thus fly health.

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TRIP has helped me explore my interests in chemistry and biology much more than just the high school experience could. I have picked up substantial amounts of information and accumulated important skills like collaboration, time management, and efficiency. The aspects of fly biology that I explored in learning more about the organs and processes of the systems of interest have been extremely interesting and I am motivated to learn more in the future. 

Overall, TRIP has given me a medium to practice my interests in a research-based career and learn more about the lifestyle of a research scientist and as a public speaker. Thank you to Dr. Purdy, Dr. Leystra, and the TAs for making this possible!