Jansen participates in summer research program

Melinda Jansen of Newton, Iowa, has found a way to incorporate her love for science and a summer job. Jansen, a junior at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, is participating in the Research for Undergraduates program at the University of Memphis in Tennessee.

Jansen was one of 10 students from across the country chosen to participate in the program. The students each receive a stipend and travel allowance.

Jansen, a biology major with a chemistry minor, is assisting Dr. Ted Burkey and a number of graduate students in the chemistry department with research involving photochromic materials, which are materials that change color when exposed to radiation. In addition, she is also participating in research to determine different ways to make radiation more effective with different molecules.

Jansen, the daughter of Morris and Debbie, says she is surprised by vast amount of topics that can be studied within the field of chemistry and how much is yet to be discovered. She explains, “I want to do something science-related in the future. Through doing this research I feel that I can get a better idea of what career I would like to pursue in the sciences.”

Jansen says her chemistry classes at Northwestern provided the foundation for the new information she is learning this summer. Through her research experience she has been exposed to new lab techniques and terminology, and is gaining the communications skills needed to present her findings.   

On campus, Jansen serves as an accompanist in the music department and is a student assistant for Dr. Tim Lubben, a member of Northwestern’s chemistry faculty. In addition, she also helps other students in their studies as a tutor in the science center.