Participants of the Irene Piscopo Rodgers ’59 Summer Science Institute pose for a photo with their faculty mentors.
Cold bottled water can be refreshing on a hot day, but hydration might not be its only effect. A chemical called DEHP can leach from plastic into drinking water, combining with bodily enzymes to form small molecules called metabolites.
“Research into their health effects is lacking,” said University of Mary Washington chemistry major Lily Gruss ’27, so she and Professor of Chemistry Davis Oldham spent the summer synthesizing them in a Jepson Science Center lab. “It will make it easier to isolate and study them.”
Lily, along with environmental science and biology major Joey Gasink ’26, presented research that placed first at Mary Washington’s Irene Piscopo Rodgers ’59 Summer Science Institute (SSI). Both earned awards through the John C. and Jerri Barden Perkins ’61 College of Arts and Sciences Student Research Endowment, which will support their future studies and fund other high-impact learning opportunities – such as attending academic conferences – that are an integral part of the UMW experience. Read more.