Morningside Connect

Sea had sent out many applications and resumes for summer research positions. She ended up receiving offers for research positions from University of Nebraska Lincoln, University of Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, and the Amgen Scholars Program. She chose to participate in the Amgen Scholars Program in Japan.

“I ultimately decided to go for this program because I was offered a truly unique cultural experience along with summer research,” said Sea.

This summer research opportunity for students is sponsored and paid for by Amgen, a biotechnology company. The program provides selected undergraduates with the opportunity to engage in hands-on research at some of the world’s premier educational institutions.

Sea is working in the lab of Professor Eiichi Nakamura, which is a synthetic and physical organic chemistry lab. Her work deals with synthesizing organic compounds for use in imaging biological materials with scanning electron microscopes.

“The stuff I’m learning about is pretty difficult, but the language barrier makes it even more challenging,” said Sea. “Definitely hard work, but very rewarding!”

This program runs for eight weeks. Her weekdays are spent in a lab from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. learning synthetic chemistry techniques and running different types of equipment. On the weekends, she travels around Tokyo taking in the sights and culture.

“Tokyo is divided into districts; so far I have seen Asakusa, Akihabara, Shinjuku, Ueno, Yushima, Kichijoji, and Shibuya,” said Sea. “I’ve seen a lot of temples and shrines, but also a lot of crowded cities. We even went to Tokyo Disney one day.”

Besides Tokyo, Sea is getting to learn about other cultures from the other students in the program. Her roommate is from Australia, and her classmates come from all over the world.

Her learning about cultures won’t stop after her internship in Japan. This fall she will be leaving campus to study in Panama for the semester.