7/2 – Our First Field Trip!

Today is our first field trip in Summer Science Program, a well needed break from the work so far! To begin the day, I woke up early (6:15) but decided to skip breakfast. We handed in our room keys to our TAs to make sure they won’t get lost After waiting in the lobby, the bus finally arrived.

The bus headed down to Philadelphia to reach our first destination of the trip, Integral Molecular, a biotechnology company! After being greeted by a wonderful lady, we were split into 2 groups: group 1 consisted of Team 1-6 while group 2 consisted of Teams 7-12. Group 1 toured the labs while group 2 met with one of the co-founders of the company. I was part of group 2 so I was able to listen to a presentation from the co-founder Sharon where she talked about the basics and process of biotechnology. Afterwards, group 2 and group 1 swapped, so I was able to tour the labs!

Unfortunately, phones were not permitted in the lab space so there will be no photos. But, the lab space was amazing; we put on lab coats and walked through the la b, seeing pipette robots, centrifuges, super cooled refrigerators, and much more!

For the final thing at Integral, we were able to talk to Tom and Kacy, an accountant and researcher respectively at Integral! It was extremely cool to hear their stories and aspirations at the company!

Finishing the Integral tour, we made a stop at the Fairmount park. There, we took a break to eat lunch; personally, I ate a chicken caesar wrap. We also took the time to play various games like football, volleyball, and basketball!

The final destination of the trip is the Wagner Free Institute of Science! Following a small traffic jam (firefighters were involved!), we were finally able to enter the building. We were finally able to enter the building. We were given a presentation from a wonderful guide about the history of the Wagner building. After the presentation, we went upstairs to see Wagner’s collection! There, we saw many, many items: skeletons of animals (even a human skeleton!), taxidermies, gemstones, insects, shells, and fossils. Unfortunately, photos weren’t allowed so you won’t see them in this blog!

To cap off the day, we quickly went to Walmart to do any shopping and then returned to Lehigh University!

Anthony

Lehigh Bacterial Genomics Participant

My name is Anthony! I’m from Plattsburgh, New York. I am a big fan of chemistry, biology, and especially lab work! Moving away from science, I love playing the cello, skating, and listening to music.