Morgan Chambers: Participate in Research Fellowship (7 pts)

This summer, I participated in the University of California, Irvine's Summer Institute in Neuroscience through the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. As a participant in this program, I worked alongside Sleep scientist Dr. Sara Mednick and a graduate student mentor to facilitate numerous lab projects and cultivate my own research experience. In the Sleep and Cognition Lab, I helped organize and lead a study dedicated to understanding how sleep aids in the process of motor memory consolidation. Over the summer I led recruitment for the study, learned how to retrieve data, and developed an oral presentation and poster project to share my findings. 

At the beginning of the summer, I was hesitant to engage in neuroscience research. While I am familiar with working in research, I have never worked in a science based lab, so I was concerned about my ability to understand the work. I was also initially disappointed in my specific lab placement, as I was unsure if sleep research interested me. Nonetheless, I joined the lab and engaged in work for the summer. To my surprise, my experience in the lab turned out to be one of my most meaningful research experiences. By the end of the summer, I gained hands on research experiences that made me feel like a true scientist. In addition to tangible skills, I further strengthened my network of scientists and psychologists who have since been a great help to me in my graduate school application process. 

My participation in this program was a great way for me to continue honing my research skills and although this was my first time engaging in neuroscience research, I found that my summer project had a few connections to my ongoing research at Spelman. While the Sleep and Cognition lab is concerned with the consolidation of memory, it made me wonder how sleep effects the lives and overall wellbeing of children. My work this summer inspired me to expand my research focus to consider both physical and social factors that impact the academic achievement, socio-emotional development, and well-being of children. Overall, I am very excited to continue expanding my research with this new perspective and look forward to further exploring in this area. 

Morgan Chambers