Josie K Welker
Personal Information
Senior Chemistry major, Environmental Studies minor
Hometown: Lewistown, Illinois
Contact info: jwelker@monmouthcollege.edu
Expected Graduation Date: May 2021
Resume: Resume
Undergraduate Research Activities
Chemistry Research with Dr. Brad Sturgeon (Fall 2018 - Present)
Peroxidase Assay via UV-Vis (Fall 2018)
Ovoperoxidase from Sea Urchins
Alternate Plans for the Summer 2020
- Since my REU was cancelled, I needed another way to advance my education.
- Audited the course Ecology: Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation by the American Museum of Natural History & Howard Hughes Medical Institute Timeline through coursera.
- Instructor - Dr. Ana Luz Porzocanski, the Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History
Summer Stevens Research Fellowship Program for the Summer 2020
- I was accepted to the Summer Stevens Research Fellowship Program at the University of Missouri (Mizzou).
- Mentor - Dr. Wes Bernskoetter
- The research experience was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Doc Kieft Summer Research 2019 with Dr. Brad Sturgeon
- I worked on two separate projects during my research in the summer of 2019.
- The first project was using High Performance Liquid Chromatography to analyze the concentration of caffeine in different samples of coffee. This project allowed me to become more familiar with the HPLC before moving on to my next project. The link below has a more comprehensive overview of this project.
- Caffeine Project
- The second project I worked on was quantifying the concentration of HPA remaining in solution after a reaction between hydrogen peroxide, horseradish peroxidase, and HPA was completed. The instrumentation used in this project included both the HPLC and the UV-Vis. The link below has a more comprehensive overview of this project.
- HPA Project
Summer 2017: Summer Opportunity for Intellectual Activity (SOfIA) with Dr. Christine Meyers
- This research had a historical focus, but tied in ground penetrating radar technology as well.
- Research with three other freshman on locating the remains of Nizzie, the elephant of the magician the Great Nicola.
- Visited many museums and cemeteries to do background research on the Great Nicola.
- Brought in an expert archaeologist, Shay Ottman, to use a ground penetrating radar to detect the presumed location of Nizzie.
Article about the SOfIA Research
Presentations
August 2017: SOfIA Presentation Monmouth, IL
Poster Titles: A Magician in Monmouth?! and An Elephant in Monmouth?!
July 2019: Doc Kieft Summer Research Presentation Monmouth, IL
Title: Enzymatic Oxidation of Biophenols
October 2019: Illinois-Iowa Local ACS Section Conference Davenport, IA
Poster Title: Oxidation of Oxybenzone
Was signed up to present Oxybenzone research at the 2020 National ACS Conference in Philadelphia, but the conference was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Interests
Career Goals
My goal is to attend a graduate school to pursue a masters or PhD program in an environmental chemistry field such as chemical oceanography or environmental toxicology.