School of Arts and Sciences Review Winter 2014 | Page 7

A Closer Look
A Closer Look

Chain Reaction
Take a tour of an SBU chemistry lab

I

By Julia Andretta, ’15

t’s not about what you successfully do, it’s about
whether or not you understand the process, and,
whether you get a good result or a bad result, what you
take from that experience.”
That’s what chemistry professor Dr. David Hilmey tells the
students working with him on research projects in his lab,
which has the words “Do it right!” written boldly at the top
of its large chalkboard. His goal in mentoring these students
is to equip them with the precious resource of independent
thought. They learn how to safely and comfortably navigate
a lab setting by themselves so that in the future they can
concentrate on solving scientific problems rather than wasting time puzzling over which equipment to use.
Hilmey works with about four or five students in his lab
most semesters. These students earn research credit for the
afternoons that they come in to work – usually two or three
afternoons a week for three to four hours at a time, depending on the project they are working on. The calm, methodical way the students describe their projects reveals how
successful Hilmey has been in furnishing independence in his
pupils.
“The day before, or the last time I was in the lab, I will
have outlined a procedure of what I’m going to do the next
day,” explains Tina Boortalary, ’15, a biology major from Falls
Church, Va., “so when I come in I just go about whatever I
have to do, which is usually carrying out a certain experiment or purifying something.”
“Usually we have some music going,” says Umar Asif, ’14,
a biology major from Bethpage, N.Y., capturing the calm atmosphere of the lab environment. “Sometimes we haven’t
had the chance to do our dishes, so if we have any left from
the last time we take care of them, and then we start our experiments.”
While this may seem like “just another day at the office,”
the students make it clear that this is anything but a mechanical grind. “It’s different from typical chem teaching labs
where you’re making things glow and analyzing the colors;
we’re doing real experiments,”