HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — A recent donation from the Waters Corporation is being put to use in the world of science at Northern Kentucky University. Their donation, totaling in about $350,000, provides some instrumentation that allows for better separation and detection of chemicals in liquid mixtures under a variety of conditions.
“We use it to separate mixtures of small molecules,” said Catie Shelton, NKU biochemistry assistant professor.
Shelton says this equipment could be used for several different things, but it’s allowing her and students to research and target enzymes present in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
“We’re incorporating students in our research and we’re really enabling them to have the experiments of producing data that can be published in top-tier journals,” she said.
An NKU alum with the Waters Corporation helped in the process of making this all happen. Staff and students have been training up on how to better use this equipment.
It’s something that chemistry and physics dual major August Bozarth said really allows for more hands-on experience.
“It’s invaluable to experience something well before other people may. It’s not just in a textbook anymore. You’re seeing the instrument and using it,” Bozarth said.
Students get to use it in undergraduate and graduate labs, a chance to get some of that real-world experience applied before determining what’s next in life.
“I think it’s cool to learn. I think it’s cool to do research. Where exactly that lands is a bit nebulous. I think teaching is awesome. I think research is awesome. So somewhere in between maybe finding myself in a situation like this again,” he said.
