Combining Biochemistry and Computer Science

Why did you choose to pursue a degree in computer science specifically at the University of Minnesota?

I previously earned a biochemistry degree from the University of Minnesota Morris campus, but decided to come to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities for a second bachelor's in computer science. While doing my second bachelor's in computer science, I discovered I could use my chemistry and biology knowledge with computer science in bioinformatics. It was a really smart idea to utilize both degrees rather than having one be wasted. I decided that since I am already a part of the system and it's familiar, coming back would be easier. The University also has a really good computer science department.

How did you become interested in computer science? What are your specific interests within the field?

I have been interested for as long as I can remember because my dad was an electrical engineer. He would bring back all these electrical components we could play with when we were young. I also remember that he had a computer, Windows 95 or Windows 98, that had games on it like “Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom” or “Duke Nukem”. From then on, I was interested in computers because of him and having that experience. Nowadays, I keep playing video games, but now I am more interested in machine learning and using computational models to answer questions in the realm of biology.

Congratulations on earning the Data Science Initiative MnDrive Graduate Assistantship Award scholarship! How will this scholarship impact your academic and extracurricular work?

I'm not sure if it's impacted my academics or extracurriculars, but this award was competitive and you had to write about the research that you're doing. To be given this award gives me a boost in confidence. To know that the research that I am doing is good and is worth it - someone thought that it was worth it enough to give this graduate assistantship award to help pay for one year of my studies. It makes me feel like this research is worth the effort and gives me confidence moving forward.

Tell us more about your internship experiences.

I've had two internships, the first one as a data analyst intern. That was before I took my major classes, so I didn't have much experience in computer science at that time. I was still able to see early on what it was like to work in a company; that was very helpful. It turned out that was not what I wanted to do, working in a company in a cubicle setting. I learned that I wanted to further my education at the graduate level instead of directly going into the workforce after my computer science degree.

The second one was a graduate-level internship. That was with a cancer immunology lab that is run by Laura Rogers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. That one lasted for the summer as I updated an analysis pipeline she was using. At the end of the internship, I still felt like there was more to do, so since then I have stayed on in her lab dedicating 30% of my time to working for her. I hope to publish what I’ve been working on within the next year. I think overall, having those internships has helped me figure out, “Oh, do I like this area I’m working in?” The first internship showed me that I didn’t want to be in the office culture. The second one, I enjoyed and figured out that's the sort of area that I do want to work in. That's helped me decide what I want to do when I graduate.

What do you hope to contribute to the computer science community at the University?

I hope that I can show some new ways to apply machine learning and deep learning methods to the genomic space in which I work in. I also hope that this can encourage other computer scientists at the University of Minnesota to reach out to different domains where they apply their computer science skills. I’m glad I went beyond what was taught in the classroom and found more ways to utilize my computer science skills. That's what brought me here.

Have you been involved with any research on campus?

It was during my computer science undergraduate program that I started doing research for Chad Myers's lab. That was beneficial because it started to give me more practical skills than what the classes were teaching at the time: such as connecting to remote servers, learning how to use the command line, and utilizing high-performance clusters. You get a bit of that in classes, but no one is giving you any specific assignments on these practical skills. That's really where I found it beneficial is by being involved in some sort of research. In the end, it led me directly to my graduate studies because Chad Myers is my Ph.D. advisor now. Getting involved in research opened the door to where I am right now. I would encourage students to try and get involved with research. Just like the internships you don’t know if it will be something that you enjoy unless you try it out.

What advice do you have for incoming computer science students?

Go try new things, whether it’s internships or research. It's really important to explore what’s out there whenever you can so you can find what you want to do. For me, it always helps to be looking a few years out. If you want to have a job right out of college, you want to be applying to internships and make connections starting at least two years out. This has helped me get to where I am.

The second piece of advice would be to take that leap of faith. I went for my second bachelor's in computer science when I already had a degree previously, but I love what I’m doing now. I enjoy being able to work with machine learning and deep learning in biology and genomics. If you don’t take some sort of leap of faith, it can be harder to get where you want to be. I think most people will be rewarded for that, whether it's reaching out to a professor for some research, or applying to an internship that you think you aren’t qualified for. You're not going to get to where you want to if you don’t try a little bit. Take that leap of faith and just go for it. Don't hold back.

What are your plans after graduation?

I’ve really enjoyed working in Laura Rogers's lab, it brings so many different challenges. No day is going to be the same, and I like that. If I could, I would probably be working in her lab full-time. That's what's great about making all these connections and doing these internships ahead of time. Hopefully, you'll have something lined up straight out of college.