Emma is from Omaha, NE, and is studying bioinformatics, public health, and French. Her non-profit experience includes partnering with Prairie STEM. As a community action project, her team tackled issues of how to engage more with middle school girls in STEM programs and keep them engaged throughout their educational careers. They developed a series of virtual workshops that are focused on developing leadership skills and confidence in middle school girls. They asked a group of high school and college women to serve as mentors during the workshops. They have currently hosted two workshops, with plans to host future in-person events. Her service experience includes volunteering at Christ Community Church's Friends Ministry as the craft coordinator. This program is an alternative to Sunday school for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Her research experience includes working with Dr. Hesham Ali analyzing data collected by UNMC's laparoscopic surgery training equipment. While patients performed tasks through a series of sessions, data was collected from the equipment and sensors on the patient's arms. Using that kinesiology data, they used similarity network models to analyze performance to compare patients' progress. The ultimate goal is to create a methodology that would allow for the creation of a decision support system, which could identify the amount of training a student needs. This summer, Emma will work remotely with the University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, through the Mitacs Globalink Internship Program, where she will work as a bioinformatics intern in Dr. Jean-Philippe Cote's microbiology lab. Her career interests include studying genetic disorders, in particular, rare or poorly understood genetic conditions. She is also interested in the application of genetics in diagnosing and customizing treatment for conditions.
