Seth Croslow

Poster Presented at the 2019 National ACS Conference

PERSONAL INFORMATION

• Year: Junior
• Major: Chemistry and Physics
• From: Lawrenceville, IL

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES

Undergraduate Chemistry Research (CHEM 340)

Advisor: Dr. Audra Goach Sostarecz

• Studies aspects of insulin’s aggregation/interactions using the Langmuir monolayer technique
• Imaging insulin aggregation and interactions at the air-water interface using Brewster angle microscopy
• Beginning construction of a fluorescence microscope to use alongside a trough for data acquisition
• Anaerobic Chamber for Cell Cultivation - A collaboration with Katie Richter
• Semester Updates:
  • Fall 2019 Data
  • Spring 2019 Data
  • Spring 2019
  • Fall 2018
  • Spring 2018
• Research Proposals:
  • 2018-2019

REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates)

Summer 2019: Boston College

• Project: Mechanistic Study of Intermediates in the Water Oxidation Pathway
• PI: Dr. Dunwei Wang
• Created heterogeneous CoO_x catalyst films using galvanostatic electrodeposition
• Determined a potential-dependent mechanism switch of the cobalt catalyst under steady-state conditions
• Analyzed intermediates in the water oxidation cycle on the cobalt catalyst in operando using FTIR at various potentials
• Used quartz crystal microbalance to study the potential-dependent effects of water adhesion onto the catalyst
• Mechanistic Study of Water Oxidation

SOfIA (Summer Opportunities for Intellectual Activities)

Summer 2018

• SOfIA Project: Visualization Using a Ceramic 3D Printer
• Was a student mentor for incoming freshman in the project
• Calibrated and adjusted a new ceramic 3D printer
• Learned the CAD design software, Fusion 360
• Created several unique 3D designs and prints

Summer 2017

• SOfIA Project: The Chemistry of Baking
• Learned various baking techniques
• Used various strains of yeast to make dough and bread samples
• Analyzed volatile chemicals in bread/dough samples using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry(GC-MS)

Richard "Doc" Kieft Summer Research

Advisor: Dr. Audra Goach Sostarecz

Summer 2018

• Used Langmuir Trough to study the effects of divalent metal cations on insulin aggregation
• Studied insulin’s interactions with lipids commonly found in the cell membrane
• Worked with other research members to begin construction of a fluorescence microscope
• Used Python to create a Graphical User Interface for data processing programs
• Final Presentation: Insulin Aggregation at the Air-Water Interface
• Data from the Summer:Summer Data Summary

Coffee Project

• Analyzed aromatic molecules in roasted coffee using GC-MS

Coffee Project Research Page

PRESENTATIONS

• October 2019: Local IL-IA ACS Conference

Title: Investigating Insulin Monomer and Hexamer Formation with Langmuir Monolayers and Brewster Angle Microscopy (Poster Presentation)

• September 2019: Monmouth College Science Seminar

Title: Mechanistic Study of Intermediates in the Water Oxidation Pathway (Oral Presentation)

• August 2019: Boston College REU Research Presentation

Title: Mechanistic Study of Intermediates in the Water Oxidation Pathway (Oral Presentation)

• May 2019: Monmouth College Scholars Day

Title: Investigating Insulin Monomer and Hexamer Formation with Langmuir Monolayers and Brewster Angle Microscopy (Poster Presentation)

• May 2019: 257th National ACS Conference

Title: Investigating Insulin Monomer and Hexamer Formation with Langmuir Monolayers and Brewster Angle Microscopy (Poster Presentation)

• August 2018: Monmouth College SOfIA Program

Title: Visualization Using a Ceramic 3D Printer (Oral and Poster Presentations)

• June 2018: Richard "Doc" Kieft Summer Research Program

Title: Insulin Aggregation at the Air-Water Interface (Oral Presentation)

• August 2017: Monmouth College SOfIA Program

Title: The Chemistry of Baking (Oral and Poster Presentations)

CLASSES

Advanced Physical Chemistry

Events

Bettendorf Jr. High School STEM Expo:

• Setup 3D printers (Ceramic, FDM, and SLA) to demonstrate the creation of 3D elements
• This also included a Coffee station, 2D to 3D paper folding station, and a drone station

Setting Up the Raspberry Pi

• The operating system of the RPi (Raspbian) was setup and the instruction can be found at the following link:
• Raspberry Pi Instructional Page

Growing Crystals

• Towards the end of the class, we started to grow crystals. My crystal, the potassium ferricyanide crystal, along with the instructions used to make it, can be found at this link:
• Ferricyanide Crystal

Class Summary

• Final Paper: Final Portfolio

ACTIVITIES

• American Chemical Society