Kevin Kehl
Palo Verde High Magnet School
Epigenetic Mechanisms in Regulation of Metabolism by Nuclear Receptors
Q. Tell us about your school.
It's an engineering and technology high school. I've been there for 13 years.
Q. What's the most exciting aspect of your research?
I did some primary cell culture, taking cells directly from the organism, and performed really interesting, complex procedures that were often headaches, but a good challenge. And it was fascinating just analyzing those results, going from cell culture and the whole cell, to see what's going on with transcription and translation of particular genes.
Q. What are you taking back to the classroom from this experience?
For one thing, I learned patience. It's given better empathy for my students. When they come into my classroom and I dump a bunch of new science on them, they probably experience a similar effect to what I had my first couple of weeks in the lab, which required having to master a whole bunch of new terms, new acronyms and new techniques. Plus, I've developed a little more understanding of liver functions. I have a biotechnology class, and in the next year or two, I would love to work with my mentor, Dr. Smith, and some others to see if we can get some cell cultures going. There are so many possibilities with doing cell culture in the classroom.
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