Tacey has participated in outreach programs at the Challenger Learning Center in Tallahassee to assist in providing younger
children with activities pertaining to science, math and engineering.
“Seeing kids get excited about science and learning was really rewarding for me,” Tacey said. “We built bridges using only
straws once.”
After graduating summa cum laude in spring 2014, Tacey began graduate school in Fall 2014, working toward a doctoral
degree.
“I hope to eventually teach at the university level to assist college students in achieving their own form of success,” Tacey said.
“I also want to conduct my own innovative research to improve the overall quality of life worldwide.”
Alicia Calero: How my Relationships with Mentors Fostered my Learning Habits
By Alicia Calero
Training the next generation of scientists is a key part of
the MagLab’s mission. In our series Mentoring Moment,
scientists, teachers and students share their stories about
mentorship at the lab. Here petroleum engineer Alicia Calero,
a former participant in the lab’s Research Experiences for
Undergraduates program, talks about two MagLab scientists
who played a key role in her training.
Age: 27
Job: Petroleum Engineer
Employer: Bureau of Safety and
Environmental
Enforcement,
New
Orleans, Louisiana
Academic major: Chemical Engineering
At MagLab: Summer 2008 - Fall 2009
MagLab Mentors: Anant K. Paravastu (assistant professor
of chemical & biomedical engineering) and Amy McKenna
(MagLab researcher and chemist)
During my time at Florida State University, I had the chance
to learn from Amy McKenna (a chemist and researcher in the
MagLab’s Ion Cyclotron Resonance department) and Anant
Paravastu (an assistant professor of chemical & biomedical
engineering).
If it wasn’t for Amy’s enthusiasm and knowledge of chemistry,
I would not have the same thirst for knowledge. Amy was
my teaching assistant for chemistry, and in a course where
so many freshmen fear the assignments and material, she
was always willing and excited to help. She made learning
about science worthwhile and encouraged me to pursue
engineering all throughout my time at FSU.
Similarly, Anant Paravastu, my chemical engineering
professor, gave me the best opportunity of my college
career: to be his laboratory researcher. In working alongside
him, I not only got to learn about state-of-the-art techniques,
I also got to use them. We performed a multitude of activities
at the MagLab, ranging from spectroscopy to working with
novel materials and proteins under a magnet.
I specifically remember when he taught me how to use
one of the lab’s small-bore magnets. Running samples in
these small-bore magnets is a time consuming process in
that learning how to start is quite difficult, and knowing
how to fix a sample’s inaccurate reading while the sample
is running is something that only experience can bring. At
the beginning, this was daunting for me. But Anant had the
patience and kindness to reiterate complicated procedures
as well as teach me solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance
theory. His continued attitude toward sharing knowledge
and imparting a skill that few have made learning how to run
magnetic samples at the MagLab fun. If it weren’t for Anant’s
tutelage, I would not have been able to retain as much
information and skill on this subject to this day.
Like Amy, Anant shares an ardent passion for learning about
science. He constantly strives for knowledge and genuinely
loves teaching. He makes learning new things exciting and
fun. His attitude toward teaching and learning are what continue to feed my desire today to push for more understanding and to never settle for less.
If it were not for the hard-work ethic that he taught me, I
would not be as skilled in research or delving into complicated topics with my positive and tenacious attitude.
Since having graduated from FSU, I’ve had opportunities to
excel as a skilled engineer.
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