Author: Lillian Hutchinson | Major: Chemical Engineering | Semester: Fall 2024

My name is Lillian Hutchinson and I am a junior chemical engineering major with a
mathematics minor. Over the past summer, I participated in a National Science Foundation
Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF REU) at the University of Texas at Austin. I
worked within Dr. Keith Keitz’s lab on a project titled ‘Influence of Protein Condensate Formation
on Extracellular Electron Transfer’. Shewanella oneidenesis is an electrochemically active
microbe able to release electrons into its environment through an anaerobic respiratory
mechanism, extracellular electron transfer (EET). I sought to control the EET mechanism
through shewanella’s response to environmental changes. To do this, I used plasmids coding for
protein condensates, membraneless organelles similar to a drop of oil in water. The goal of the
project was to test if the presence of protein condensates would affect EET. I was able to show
there was an increase in EET activity in the presence of condensates, but more work needs to
be done to confirm the significance of the findings.

Poster presentation of ‘Influence of Protein Condensate Formation on Extracellular Electron Transfer’

I had the opportunity to present my project at the annual Biomedical Engineering Society
conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Through this, I gained experience presenting my work to
others. I spoke to experts within my field and to scientists with varying backgrounds. This gave
me the opportunity to learn how to present to people with varying experiences. Developing a
poster helped me articulate the key takeaways of my project and determine how to present
them in a clear manner. Answering questions about my presentation solidified my understanding
of my project as well as gave me insight on the possible next steps. The conference also gave
me the opportunity to connect with others performing similar research. I was able to attend other
poster presentations as well as oral presentations and ask questions about their work. This
allowed me to brainstorm possible future avenues of my project and experiments that could
assist my project. I plan to implement these ideas into the work I am doing at the University of
Arkansas and also in my future work in graduate school. Through these presentations, I met
others with similar research and was able to network with them. These connections will help me
continue to learn about research and projects within my field. Speaking with graduate students
from other schools helped give me insight into steps I can take to improve my research and help
me later in graduate school.
Since my work for this project was done at another school, I will stay in contact with Dr.
Keitz and my graduate student mentor. I will continue to conduct research in Dr. Younghye
Song’s lab and I hope to attend another conference in the future. I also intend to participate in
another REU to continue to expand on the different types of research I have been exposed to. In
the future, I plan to pursue a Ph.D. studying tissue engineering. This experience has helped to
prepare me for presenting at conferences in the future. This conference also helped to solidify
my desire to continue conducting research and assisted in my development as a researcher.