Twenty-four undergraduate students are spending the summer conducting research.
They are called INBRE scholars and are part of the largest grant in UNMC history.
Today we meet Thanh Nguyen of Council Bluffs, a human biology major at the College of Saint Mary.
What should we know about you?
I’m a college student at CSM. I currently live in Omaha for INBRE. I hope to stay with UNMC and see what other amazing things it has to offer.
What or who influenced your interest in science?
My parents have been a huge influence for my interest in science. They have taught me to take advantage of my education and learn as much as I can. I grew up in a place where studying science isn’t common, and it is extremely rare to be able to do so. Therefore, not many people know what exactly science is all about. To be interested in studying something is to study something that is unknown.
What is it about science that excites you?
Everything about science excites me, mainly because there is so much to learn. When you think you really know and understand it all, more things come up. It narrows down more and more. That’s what really keeps me in the game. There are always obstacles in science, and we are here to solve them. Doing research in science is an amazing thing because you get to discover things no one else knows about. That’s the beauty of science. It’s impossible for a person to know everything. You can’t just look up information in books or online and expect to get all your answers there. Science isn’t just textbooks and papers, but obstacles, research and experiments.
Why is it important to have programs like INBRE?
INBRE introduced me to the world of research in science. I have always shied away from working in lab because I thought I couldn’t handle it. With the experience that INBRE provided me, the field of research has really sparked my interest. I’m learning about pancreatic cancer so much more in depth than I have ever before in classrooms. Everything about what I’m researching is all very new to me. You just don’t get that type of learning elsewhere. I also have learned many procedures to give me a head start when I have to perform in my class.