S-STEM Scholar Kristi Morrison's Blog

 Its finals weeks and the last blog of 2020, yay! Looking back on the semester I think the STEM class was valuable. I learned some new things, but looking forward I think there are some opportunities for me to grow and I think the STEM class could help. I believe our class is highly diverse with the majority of the people transferring from a two year institution. Since most of us have already made it through two years successfully, we have already learned how to prepare, study and know what type of learner we are. I think the STEM class should focus more on how to write a resume or build a CV, the process of graduate school applications (GRE's, LSAT, assistantships etc) and how to navigate employment after graduation without it being taxing on the professors or students. Talking with other students, I think that these are areas that are not taught in other classes and ultimately will make us better prepared for our future.

This is my second to last blog of the year which is really exciting because that means 2020 is almost over. I learned from our exercise in class on Study Plan/To do list that like many others I am a habitual  procrastinator. This exercise allowed me to set small goals and accomplish tasks at an incremental rate. Through this experience I was able to feel like I wasn't drowning in homework and my anxiety seemed to be lower. I will use this procedure in future finals' weeks to allow myself to relax but still accomplish goals.

This was my first year at the STEM Train virtual mixer and I think it turned out great. I was assigned to Dr. Tom Cahill's room and he discussed his research areas. If I had more time at ASU West I would look in to leaning more about his analytic chemistry techniques. One thing he pointed out, that I also learned early on in my ASU journey was that Life Science majors are unable to obtain a minor in chemistry. However, the department is trying to adjust the requirements so that biology majors can indeed get a minor in chemistry in the near future. It won't effect me, however I think it is a positive thing for incoming Train students.

 9/29 Blog Its Fall 2020 semester and we are still facing the ramifications of COVID. Due to COVID all of my classes are online and require a different approach to learning. There are still the benefits and cons of learning online oppose to in-person. I personally, prefer in-person because I am able to  get away from 'school' by going into classrooms, although I am not choosing that option this semester because I don't feel safe yet going into public areas.  My favorite service at ASU is taking advantage of their student services advisement department. I am constantly changing my classes and reworking what classes I can take and they do an excellent job at giving me feedback and guiding me to the correct course pathway.  

Earlier in the week I found out my summer internship was cancelled due to COV-19. It is a bummer but I understand that we all need to be careful and safe during this time. I am hoping to find an internship that I can do remotely over the summer but if not then I will have extra time to plan my wedding. This unique time poses pros and cons and I am determined to focus on the positives.

Today marks the 2nd week of online classes at ASU due to COVID-19. This change has impacted all of my classes very differently. Currently, my lab classes are very difficult to get a grasp on and conducting research has been halted. Other classes have adjusted their assignments to be more flexible and easier to manage. I find this time to be challenging because I am worried for my family and friends and what will happen as a result of all of this. School is a nice distraction but its kind of hard to find motivation for my classes and also it sometimes feels like an added pressure to an already highly stressed time. On a positive note, my 12 week old puppy is getting much more deserved attention. Its been fun to observe her personality evolve as she gets older.

Blog #2 My fish ecology course has started to ramp up and we have finally came up with a research question. With the data we have been given for the past decade, we wanted to know if there is a change in catch per unit of effort over time and fork length. We are interested in answering this research question because it can give us insight into what life stage they are in and if their population is stable. Like I've said in the last blog, Atlantic Sturgeon are an engendered species but have made a resurgence in the past few years so whatever data we can discover to protect this species is critical. We are currently learning how to implement statistical analysis to our data to determine if there is a significant relationship between CPUE and fork length. We know that fish are most abundant in the summer months and we know that they are juveniles. We now just need to tie it all together and start writing our manuscripts.