Graduate Research Assistants and Undergraduate Student Interns

Current Undergraduate Student Interns

Brooke Beresford
Journalism and Media Communications Undergraduate, CSU

“As the ARC’s lead marketing intern, I have created graphic illustrations, social media posts, and our monthly bulletin, among other projects. These projects help the ARC not only to forward important research but also to create a sense of community for our staff and users. Throughout my time here, I have learned incredibly valuable and exciting information about how the ARC’s services have served CSU and the greater scientific community. I am excited to see how the ARC continues to forward research and how my marketing services can help bolster our mission of creating an extraordinary learning experience for everyone.

Gwen Wilusz 
Chemistry undergraduate, CSU

“My time at the ARC-MMA has provided me with numerous educational opportunities in the realm of chemistry instrumentation. I have learned about research in diverse areas of chemistry, while also implementing important problem-solving skills that are necessary to provide technical support in the lab. The knowledge that I gain here will play a foundational role throughout my chemistry career.”

Acacia Sack 
Biology undergraduate, CSU

“I’m a freshman and started working in the ARC at the beginning of this summer. In just the last couple of months, I’ve made valuable connections with people from so many backgrounds and am continuing to learn something new every day. My favorite part about working in the lab is that there’s no limit to learning and exploring. When I have a question, there are always extremely knowledgeable people around who are happy to give me an explanation or a demonstration. The ARC is a congenial atmosphere to work in and a space where curiosity and questions are valued!”

Current Graduate Research Assistants 

Autumn Peters
Ph.D. graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“Working in the ARC has provided me with invaluable hands-on experience with instrumentation that I otherwise would not have had access to. It is an absolute pleasure to work with such a great team to help provide training, instrument maintenance, and education to a broad user base. The skills that I have learned in this role have allowed me to grow as a scientist and I look forward to the continued education that the ARC provides to both its staff and users!”

Alumni GRA

(Gia) Thinh Tran
Ph.D. graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“Working at the ARC allows me to operate and learn about the instruments on a deeper technical level. Along with a highly communicative and professional team, I helped researchers on as well as off campus to progress their science.”

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Hugo Pantigoso Guevara
PhD graduate student, CSU (Horticulture)

Justin Gangwish. Spring 2021
PhD graduate student, SAMD

“Working at the ARC has given me the opportunity to gain experience on a wide range of instruments from electron microscopes, differential scanning calorimeters, and X-ray diffractometers. Beyond that I have been able to learn about and help with research I would not have otherwise seen as a graduate student.  The staff is supportive and helpful to new students whether they are training for the first time or looking for deeper understanding of their data and its acquisition. TA’ing at the ARC is a great opportunity to gain experience and work with a wonderful team!”

Alyssa Winter

Alyssa Winter May. Fall 2020, Spring 2021
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“Working at the MMA has been extremely rewarding; not only have I had the opportunity to greatly expand my knowledge of instrumental analytical techniques and processes, but I’ve been able to make connections with and help so many people in the short span of time that I’ve been here. The MMA’s mission to educate its user base while driving research forward is really inspiring.”

Brooke Livesay Photo

Brooke Livesay
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“The ARC-MMA has given me the opportunity to learn from experts in our staff and expand my knowledge of NMR instrumentation and techniques.”

Jennifer Lee

Jennifer Lee. Spring 2021
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“I learned about and operated a diversity of instrumentation through my opportunity with the ARC, in which I concomitantly developed invaluable technical and communication skills.”

Allison Haase

Allison Haase. Fall 2019 – Spring 2020
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

 “The MMA has had the most impact with me by allowing me to develop useful skills that are outside my research project.”

Dominic Cudjoe Asebiah

Dominic Cudjoe Asebiah. Fall 2020
PhD graduate student, CSU (SAMD)

“The MMA has provided me with knowledge and proper management of resources available for data collection and interpretation. I am grateful to have this opportunity.”

Jeffrey Ma

Jeffrey Ma. Summer & Fall 2020
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“The MMA has allowed me to better my interpersonal skills by interacting directly to clients about their service requests and given me an opportunity to learn directly from experts in our staff on a daily basis.”

Kate Kostenkova

Kate Kostenkova. Summer 2020
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“The MMA gave me an opportunity to expand my technical knowledge of NMR and EPR that I will use in my graduate career and beyond, and also – work alongside a great group of scientists.”

Nicholas DeWeerd

Nicholas DeWeerd. Summer 2020
Senior Development Scientist at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences

Working in the ARC-MMA gave me invaluable experience troubleshooting instrumentation and working as a team to solve problems that directly impacted users during the summer months of the COVID crisis. Working under those strange conditions with such capable coolheaded individuals set an example for me to follow and apply to my future career.”

Rebecca Miller

Rebecca Miller. Fall 2019, Spring 2020
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“The ARC-MMA has had a strong impact on myself as a chemist. I’ve developed technical instrument skills, especially on the TEM and learning from Dr. Geiss. Working with Dr. McCurdy has taught me aspects involved in keeping an instrument facility running, including training users, maintaining instruments, and facilitating instrument use and billing.”

Nelson Isaacson

Nelson  Isaacson. Spring 2019
PhD graduate student, CSU (SAMD)

“The ARC-MMA has given me the opportunity to learn about all sorts of exciting research and data collection techniques as well as a taste of instructing and helping students gather the information they need. I really enjoy being helpful and doing what I can to help facilitate success, and my position here works really well with that!”

Roberta Sabino

Roberta Maia Sabino. Fall 2018-Fall 2019
PhD graduate student, CSU (SAMD)

“The ARC-MMA gave me the opportunity to learn about different techniques that I wouldn’t have contact during my graduate research. I’m sure the skills I could develop here will be really valuable to my future career (besides the amazing people I had the opportunity to meet and work with).”

Sam Miller

Sam Miller. Spring 2019
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“Constant exposure to a variety of projects and instrumentation needs while working in the ARC-MMA enhanced my technical knowledge as I move forward in my graduate career. Allowing me to take heightened responsibility was a key step to help build personal confidence as well.”

Cheryle Beuning

Cheryle Beuning. Fall 2017, Spring 2018
NIST postdoctoral researcher

“While working as a research assistant in the ARC-MMA I was able to develop skills in mass spectrometry that I was unable to attain in my graduate studies and it will be a valuable technique in my career at NIST, which I wouldn’t have had the chance to learn otherwise”

Ruth Menger

Ruth Menger. Fall 2018
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“The ARC-MMA showed me how instrumental analysis can be and is used in settings outside of the research setting in a variety of fields”

MJ Riches

MJ Riches. Spring and Fall 2017
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“The ARC-MMA taught me the difference between using an instrument and actually knowing an instrument”

Eli Watson

Eli Watson. Fall 2017, Spring 2018
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

“Working in the ARC-MMA was fantastic to gain critical skills in the field of instrument management as I move forward in my post-graduate career!”

Megan Dunlap

Megan Dunlap. Fall 2017, Spring 2018
PhD graduate student, CSU (Chemistry)

Chris Allison

Chris Allison. Fall 2016, Spring 2017
PhD candidate, CSU (Chemistry)

“My time in the ARC-MMA helped advance my research skills in graduate school by allowing me to work on a variety of projects both independently and as part of a team”

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Jesus Tapia. Fall 2015, Spring 2016
PhD candidate, CSU (Chemistry)

Alumni Undergraduate Student Interns

Casey Callaway

Casey Callaway
Art (Chemistry minor) undergraduate, CSU

“Working at the ARC allows me to explore the connections between art and science. My perspectives as an Art means I can  creatively engage with the tools and materials at the ARC. I’m excited to keep learning and growing with the ARC team!”

Jenna Salvat
Chemistry (Geology minor) undergraduate, CSU

“My experience working with the ARC has invaluably contributed to my microscopy repertoire, as I now have a good understanding of the operating principles of electron microscopy in addition to practical experience with the JEOL JSM-5800 FESEM. As an aspiring geochemist, my use of the energy dispersive spectrometer in conjunction with the scanning electron microscope has been impactful in my knowledge of technologies that provide spatial resolution in composition elucidation.” 

Analiese

Analiese Wiedenbeck
Chemistry undergraduate, CSU

“Working at the ARC allows me to explore the connections between art and science. My perspectives as an Art means I can creatively engage with the tools and materials at the ARC. I’m excited to keep learning and growing with the ARC team!”

Clayton Prevatte

Clayton Prevatte
Physics (Math minor) undergraduate, CSU

“Working with the spectroscopy equipment in the ARC lab has been a very rewarding experience. I’ve learned a ton of super cool stuff at this job, and I hope to keep learning new things here.”

Olivia Hill

Olivia Hill
Chemistry (Math minor) undergraduate, CSU

“Working for the ARC-MMA lab has provided me with an immersive experience into the world of instrument analysis. The skills and knowledge I have gained as an intern has been a foundational experience that has solidified my love for chemistry and will serve me well in my future career.”

Stephanie Cardinalli

Stephanie Cardinalli
Chemistry undergraduate, CSU

“Having the opportunity to not only learn about the instruments in a classroom but also to work with them in the ARC-MMA has taught me more than I could have expected. Hands-on experience is so important; reading about them in a textbook alone just won’t do it.”

Zach Moen

Zach Moen
Chemistry undergraduate, CSU

“The hands on experience gained while working in the ARC-MMA is an incredible advantage, not just for future work in a laboratory, but insight into hands on applications of the abstract principles we learn in the pursuit of a chemistry degree.”

Alaina

Alaina McKenzie
Chemistry undergraduate

“Working for the ARC-MMA has helped me discover a passion for a field of chemistry I wouldn’t have been able to experience otherwise. Learning about instrumentation techniques as well as problem solving is something I will carry throughout my career.”

Jason Haines

Jason Haines. 2015-2018
Mass Spectrometry Field Service Engineer, Bruker

“In a day and age where experience is vital to finding a job, ARC-MMA gave me the tools and knowledge needed to start a career right out of college”

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Benjamin Schramm.

Kaylen Prior

Kaylen Prior. 2016-2017
Markes International US Service Manager

“The ARC-MMA gave me the experience and connections to meet my future employer, and I was hired to be a part of Markes International right after graduation”

Ty Sours

Ty Sours, 2016-2018
Chem. Engineering PhD student at the University of California, Davis

“The ARC-MMA staff were always incredibly kind and encouraging and helped me develop the skills and confidence needed to pursue graduate studies.”

Benjamin Zumwalt

Benjamin Zumwalt. 2010-2016
Mass Spectrometry Field Service Engineer, Agilent

 “Graduating with a B.S. degree with the level of experience with instrumentation and lab work gained at the ARC-MMA is simply unparalleled”

Melanie Burnett

Melanie Burnett
PhD graduate student, Alaska

Kaila Herold

Kaila Herold
MSc graduate student, University of Toledo, OH (Biomedical Sciences)