{"id":45290,"date":"2023-02-03T09:40:31","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T14:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/?p=45290"},"modified":"2023-02-03T09:40:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T14:40:31","slug":"umss23-student-profile-mary-milligan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/2023\/02\/03\/umss23-student-profile-mary-milligan\/","title":{"rendered":"UMSS23 Student Profile: Mary Milligan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mary Milligan was first exposed to research when she was named a Maine Top Scholar and was introduced to advisors in the chemistry department at 91±¬ΑΟ. After talking with several professors she found a research project that piqued her interest. Milligan says, \u201csince then, I have been able to apply a lot of the skills I\u2019ve learned in the lab to classes I\u2019m taking, conversations and even when applying to grad school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Today Milligan is working with her faculty mentor, Dr. Matt Brichacek, focusing on xylan, \u201ca major component of plant biomass and secondary cell walls.\u201d Xylan falls under a class of glycans, which are found in most plants and make them \u201can abundant source of fuel for renewable energy.\u201d However, the chemical bonds of xylan can be difficult to degrade, impeding the process. Milligan is using the reagent, 4-MU Iodonium Triflate, to assess how to degrade those molecular bonds, hoping to apply it to other classes of glycans. \u201cIn the future, these reactions, in conjunction with the 4-MU reagent, can be transferred to sustainability studies concerning biofuels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Milligan says she \u201chad the benefit of working with both a mentor and a graduate student,\u201d saying their knowledge helped her understand not only portions of her research but also other aspects of chemistry she had been unable to previously apply. \u201cI am forever thankful for Matt and Robin\u2019s efforts in helping me become a better chemist and making my research experience so informative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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For those who are just considering dipping their toes into research, Milligan recommends exploring lots of areas and talking to a variety of faculty mentors. Exposure to different areas and research projects gets students thinking about all the possibilities available to them. \u201cEnjoy your time doing research and try your best to schedule time\u201d for it. She says while college may be tough, the experience is only as rewarding as students make it. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mary Milligan was first exposed to research when she was named a Maine Top Scholar and was introduced to advisors in the chemistry department at 91±¬ΑΟ. After talking with several professors she found a research project that piqued her interest. Milligan says, \u201csince then, I have been able to apply a lot of the skills […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":45291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"Uncategorized"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/458\/2023\/02\/03AF6118-CE99-4471-A7D1-8059D93CB1D9_1_201_a-Mary-Milligan-1024x997.jpeg",1024,997,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Deanna","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/author\/djordan\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"Uncategorized","slug":"uncategorized","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":4,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Uncategorized","category_nicename":"uncategorized","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45290"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45292,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45290\/revisions\/45292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/umss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}