My involvement in the Novakofski and Mateus Chronic Wasting Laboratories began in the spring of 2015 toward the end of my freshman year at the U of I. I have been working under the supervision of Dr. Adam Brandt on research that delves deeper into the genetic predispositions to Chronic Wasting Disease in white-tailed deer. My responsibilities have included isolating DNA from deer tissue samples, conducting polymerase chain reactions to amplify DNA segments for sequencing, and preparing sequenced genetic code for analysis using the program Sequencher. I look forward to pursuing a career that blends laboratory and field research in the biological sciences with the real-world applications of the findings of that research.