Category: Features

  • UC Strike Marks Turning Point for Higher Education

    UC Strike Marks Turning Point for Higher Education

    BY MICHAEL BORCHARD AND JULJA HOKANSON On November 14, 2022, a six week strike by academic workers along the entire University of California system commenced. Over 36,000 academic student employees represented by UAW Local 2865—including teaching assistants, graduate student researchers, graduate student instructors, tutors, and readers—organized in picket lines and withheld their labor. By December…

  • The 17th Annual ACS-SA Undergraduate Research Symposium at UC San Diego

    The 17th Annual ACS-SA Undergraduate Research Symposium at UC San Diego

    BY AAKASH DAVASAM On May 18, 2023, the 17th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium hosted by the American Chemical Society-Student Affiliates (ACS-SA) took place. This much-anticipated annual event brought together students and faculty from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UC San Diego to witness the diverse and groundbreaking work performed by undergraduate students. The…

  • The $4 Million Research Facility Now Operational at UCSD

    The $4 Million Research Facility Now Operational at UCSD

    BY CHRISTOPHER NOWAK What is the largest instrument you’ve ever seen? Perhaps you’ve run a sample on a UV-Vis Spectrophotometer that takes up a whole benchtop. Maybe you’ve used an NMR instrument that’s even taller than you. The new Scripps Ocean-Atmosphere Research Simulator (SOARS) is the size of an entire building—and a big one, at…

  • Computational Chemistry Research and Graduate Student Life with Abigail Dommer Ph.D. and Nick Wauer M.S.

    Computational Chemistry Research and Graduate Student Life with Abigail Dommer Ph.D. and Nick Wauer M.S.

    BY PATIEMMA RUBIO As an undergraduate in Dr. Rommie Amaro’s computational chemistry research lab at UCSD, I have the opportunity to work with some amazing and intelligent people. Computational chemistry is expansive due to the endless possibilities of computers, and in our lab specifically, we use advanced theoretical and computational techniques to explore the structure,…

  • Getting the Chance to Know a Fellow Biochemistry Transfer Student

    Getting the Chance to Know a Fellow Biochemistry Transfer Student

    BY JULJA HOKANSON What life is like as a transfer student in biochemistry When beginning his undergraduate journey at Palomar community college in San Marcos, California, first-year transfer student Kevin Tidwell did not always have his sights on studying biochemistry. In fact, it never crossed his mind to even pursue a major in a STEM…