WHAT
Over the Summer of 2022, I participated in a program run by the Honors Program at the University of Cincinnati called UHP Discover. This program allowed me to get involved with non-STEM research at a lab in the biological sciences department. Here, I was mentored by Dr. Patrick Guerra as I worked on a project that concerned creating a learning mascot based off of the Robin Moth to convey abstract concepts to kids. My summer consisted of a literature search, literature breakdown, and the designing of a learning mascot.
SO WHAT
This opportunity allowed me to reach past the usual wet lab research and delve into reading and understanding various papers on the subject of education. As I have volunteered with children aged 4-6 since the beginning of high school, this experience allowed me to use my prior knowledge to put together a character that I believe they will find fun and engaging. This project allowed me a lot of flexibility and free reign as I had been exposed to research prior in the Geology department. I felt more confident in my ability to navigate working in a research lab but also got to learn some differences in how various labs operate.
NOW WHAT
I have decided to now continue on with the lab as this project still has ways to go before it reaches completion. I did not have much experience in art prior to this lab, but designing the mascot required me to start building up those skills and think differently as I don’t usually encounter this kind of challenge in my usual work. I hope to continue designing our Robin moth/caterpillar mascot to look more friendly and captivating to the students in efforts to get them excited to learn. I have also been able to get more involved in other projects going on at the Guerra Lab and am eager to learn more about the world of moths.
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