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Mia Hamon Joined Girls in Science for the Summer

Over the summer, senior Mia Hamon spent six weeks at New York University participating in the GSTEM program. GSTEM is a six-week summer program for high school girls interested in pursuing academic and career paths in STEM. 

Hamon was one of 40 girls selected nationwide to participate in the program. Girls were paired with researchers or professors in a field of their choosing. Participants learn to expand their scientific writing skills and their public speaking skills through workshops and attend weekly field trips to local STEM institutions. 

“Last year, I took Ms. Barraco’s college biology class. She inspired me to do more with science. She helped me with my application and letters of recommendation,” said Hamon. 

Barraco said Hamon showed incredible determination to ensure her spot in the program. “I am thrilled that Mia had this opportunity,” said Barraco. “Mia has a natural curiosity and interest in science. Working in a lab setting and gaining experience with different techniques and laboratory equipment is an unparalleled experience.”

At GSTEM, Hamon worked with biologist Diago Loayza at Hunter College. She took the subway from NYU to Loayza’s genetics lab at Hunter daily. "The name of my project was The Analysis and Localization of the Base Excision Repair System in Budding Yeast,” said Hamon. “Using yeast as a model organism and the DNA, she grew yeast on agar plates and cultures in a liquid.”

Hamon was looking at where the base excision repair was happening in the cell. Some mutations can occur in the DNA. If they are not attended to by DNA repair systems, then they can become cancerous. The study is connected to cancer research. Hamon knows there are more steps in the study and more to discover. “Six weeks might seem like a long time, but in the scientific world, that isn't enough,” she said.

Hamon developed laboratory techniques and programming skills, scientific writing abilities, and presentation skills. “We had a final symposium day,” she said. “I had to present an overview of what I did, but we had to make it make sense to the audience. That was an important part of the process.” 

In addition to earning first-hand research experience in real STEM labs, students took weekly field trips to meet women working in various STEM fields. The trip that stood out to Hamon was their visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they looked at the science involved in preserving the art. 

The GSTEM program is also an opportunity to make friends from around the world. In their free time, participants caught Broadway shows and explored the city. “I saw 19 Broadway plays, went to Central Park and the High Line, and we went to movie night at Bryant Park, where we got to watch a movie on a huge projector screen,” said Hamon. 

For Hamon, the experience was priceless. “I gained experience in the research lab, which gave me a push to pursue that in the future – in college,” she said. “I am filled with encouragement and glad to have made new friends.”