Apr10
Posted on Apr 10 by
As Gwyn returns from ACS Spring 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia, she is reminiscing on the great talks she went to, the connections she made, the communicating science she did, and the places she visited. Her favorite destination in Atlanta, besides the conference center, of course, was the Georgia Aquarium, where she met a real-life otter! Returning from Atlanta is bittersweet as she begins to wrap up her undergraduate career by prepping for distinction, but knows she’s onto the next part of her journey to a Ph.D. in chemistry! She is extremely grateful for her experience in the GRAB lab as it really was an otter this world...
Mar27
Posted on Mar 27 by
The GRAB Lab had an amazing time at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Atlanta this week. We had Gwyn and Georgia as seasoned veterans presenting at their second conference and Lana and Ann-Lee making it their first conference. All four did an amazing job at the conference, learning about a wide range of chemistry, networking and making connections, and presenting their own research work to interested chemists. We represented mineralization, nanoparticles, DNA technology, and QCM chemistry awesomeness! Gwyn and Georgia both presented at Sci-Mix in addition to their regular session and Georgia came away with a poster award in the Colloids and Surface Science (COLL) division. We also had a great time partnering with Dr. Lau, Maddie, and Lauren for fun at the conference, the aquarium, and delicious Korean...
Mar27
Posted on Mar 27 by
In her final semester at Emmanuel, Ellie has been analyzing carbon dots synthesized from a mixture of urea and citric acid by teammate Gwyneth Gagnon. Ellie is working to understand the method of best separation for liquid chromatography, to gain knowledge about the properties of the carbon dots, such as size and polarity. Soon, she will run another synthesis of carbon dots that used ethylenediamine and then work on analysis using the LC-MS in negative polarity. Ellie’s LC-MS instrument is pictured here! She’s running reversed phase separations with an ESI-single quad mass...
Mar11
Posted on Mar 11 by
As Noah begins his final semester of senior year, he continues to build on the research skills and experiences he developed last semester in the lab. Currently, he has been working on preparing tissue samples for thin sectioning using a microtome, a crucial step for examining demineralized samples under fluorescence microscopy. The image shown captures Noah in the process of attempting to section the samples, which will allow for detailed visualization of structural and mineral changes following demineralization treatments. These observations are an essential step to future experiments aimed at promoting remineralization, where insights gained from microscopy will help guide the application of mineralizing scaffolds. As he balances coursework and research during his final semester, Noah is continuing to develop his technical skills while moving the project toward more clinically relevant applications of...
Feb13
Posted on Feb 13 by
Ann-Lee is taking a small break from mineralization experiments for the semester in order to learn about a new project! Gwyn has been teaching her all she needs to know about carbon-nano dots. This week they’ve performed such an easy microwave-based synthesis! In the future, we hope that we find a way to characterize these and understand their emissions. For now it is great to see that they...
Feb11
Posted on Feb 11 by
After a rejuvenating winter break, Lana was eager to get back into her chemistry classes and labs this semester. The other research students seem to feel the same, as everyone has been jumping straight into new projects, whether that be an experiment or making DIY lab decor. Lana is especially excited to finally move beyond control experiments and start experimenting with DNA aptamers again. Feeling inspired by everything in the lab, Lana hopes to channel that creativity back into her...
