Project SEED 2023 at WSU Chemistry
This summer, Sue White, the Detroit section chair of the American Chemical Society, reestablished the Project SEED program as an in-person research opportunity at Wayne State University's Department of Chemistry.
The program ran from Jun. 26 through Aug. 24 and was co-coordinated by Sue White, Dr. Sibrina Collins (Lawrence Technological University) and Dr. Keith Williams. The program had become virtual in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) created Project SEED in 1968, to “provide sustained STEM research, learning and growth opportunities for high school students with diverse identities and socioeconomic backgrounds so they can be empowered to advance and enrich the chemical science enterprise.” Over the last 53 years, the program grew to provide summer research experiences and virtual summer camps to more than 12,000 students.
The Detroit Local Section sponsored four Project SEED scholars under the direction of; Drs. Alice Walker, Long Luo, James Bour and Charlie Fehl. The student scholars were matched with their principal investigators and had post-doctoral researchers and graduate students as mentors in the labs; Muhammad Alim (Walker Lab), Arriea Bonds (Luo Lab), Arensa Fejzulla (Bour Lab) and Nasma Ibrahim (Fehl Lab).
The chemistry labs provided extra activities in addition to the laboratory research experience. Students also received virtual training and seminars from the ACS once a week. In the Fehl Lab, Nasma Ibrahim worked on organic synthesis to create intermediate compounds used in making photo cages. These cages help control O-GlcNAc, a protein modification connected to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Muhammad Alim studied green fluorescent proteins in the Walker Lab. Arensa Fejzulla, who is part of the Bour Lab, said her favorite part of being in the lab was learning something new every day, and that the program took her out of her comfort zone, “I didn’t know anyone there, but that was quickly overcome because of the kindness and support I received from everyone around me.” Overall, the Project SEED team was pleased to have a successful, in-person program back in the Detroit Section.
