Kaija Windeler
When I first heard about KBS, I was hesitant to spend the summer away from my friends and family. Not doing the Michigan Tech Summer Camp placed me on a different path than them, yet after my summer here I can say that I made the right decision. When I arrived, driving through about half an hour of farmland off the main highway, I pulled onto the well manicured property of the Kellogg Biological station. I had yet to learn about the extensive fields of experiments surrounding the academic building, about the apartments where I would live and immediately become friends with my suitemates, or the Stack building where I would meet my mentor, participate in research, presentations, workshops, and conferences.
The first few weeks of the experience were dedicated to understanding what KBS has to offer, learning what my mentor was working on, and researching feasible goals for the rest of the program. We eventually decided that working with remote sensing would be a great skill to develop. The project involved working with both soil nutrient data and remote images, and ended with significant results. Additionally, I learned a lot about the field of research. It was great to get a different perspective on what field I want to go into. Listening to graduate students and various faculty talk about their experiences, going to resume workshops, and learning to write each piece of research proposals and papers were extremely helpful learning experiences. I feel much more confident continuing in the research field going forward because I know more so what to expect. On top of that, I’m leaving with better hard and soft skills, and a better understanding of what I want to do after I graduate - and many new friend