Hi everyone! I’m Danielle Nguyen and I am doing a Pinhead internship at the University of California Santa Barbara this summer. I arrived in Santa Barbara on Sunday, June 29 around noon. The night before, I went to sleep at 2 AM and had to wake up at 3 AM so I was super tired, but once I saw how gorgeous this place is, I was wide awake with excitement. My host family picked me up from the airport and we drove around town and the UCSB campus. They are extremely nice people and have been very friendly and welcoming. We ate at a delicious seafood restaurant called Moby Dick’s right on the pier.
My official start date was Tuesday July 1, but I rode in to campus on Monday to sign paperwork and get my project from my mentor, Dr. Joan Emma Shea. My project for the summer will be researching the competition Urea and Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), two osmolytes present in sharks, using computer models. Basically sharks need to keep their solute concentration the same as the salty sea water surrounding them. To do this, they produce urea, but urea is bad for cells because it unfolds/destabilizes proteins. Proteins only work when they are folded. Because urea is bad, sharks also have to produce TMAO, which folds/stabilizes proteins, to counteract urea.
On Tuesday, I went to a project overview meeting for all the international interns, so I met people from the Netherlands, the UK, and many other places. During the next few days, Dr. Shea taught me more about proteins and introduced the LINUX computer operating system to me. We will use LINUX to make computer models. It is super confusing so far but hopefully I will have it down by the end of the summer.
I’ve also had a lot of time for fun during the week. I watched a World Cup game with the other interns, worked out at the rec center, went on a lot of runs (there is a gorgeous lagoon trail on campus), and stopped by the beach every day on my way home. On July 4, my host family and I went to go see the parade, eat lunch, and see fireworks. And today I got to attend Mass at the Mission which is beautiful. I’m having a blast here so far!
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