Melissa Taylor
fourth-year graduate student
E-mail: mjt5y7@missouri.edu
Lab
Undergraduate work
Bachelor’s degree in molecular biology, William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo.; Oxbridge Honors Department.
Home town
Bolckow, Mo.
Research
Basic research in characterizing the protein: purifying it, testing it for functional ability and then comparing its function to our previously released results.
Techniques
Protein purification, decapping assays, UV crosslinking, RNA isolation, chemical crosslinking, co-immunoprecipitations, trypsin digests of bands for mass spectrometry, Immunoflourescence, cloning.
Honors
Graduate Student Association Biochemistry Student of the Year
Why Mizzou
- Attitude of the professors.
- Good research projects.
- Environment of Columbia.
- As much to offer as the bigger universities.
- Low cost of living.
Favorite part of Mizzou biochemistry
The environment of the department. We’re mostly close together, which provides for several intra-department collaborations. If there is a question in our lab, we go to one of the five labs in the same building and get more background information to help us answer the question. That atmosphere of helping each other is rare in many science fields, so I appreciate the effort this department makes to do that.
Career plans
My plan is to work as a post-doc right after I graduate. Then I don’t know whether I’ll stay in academia or go to industry.
Organizations
I’ve been both vice-president and president of the Biochemistry Graduate Student Organization (BGSO) and am still a member. I have been involved in the Alternative Career Exploration in Sciences (ACES) program since it was founded and helped with the initial set-up.
Outside the lab
I like being outdoors and hiking in the parks. I also love to read and play the piano.
Best things about Columbia
There are many activities to do outside, and it’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen.