Biology student expands research horizons through selective NSF program

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — Applying to a physics-based research program as a biology major felt like “the ultimate leap of faith,” said Penn State Lehigh Valley student Daniela Fernandez.

That leap took Fernandez to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where she was one of 15 students selected from 255 applicants for a highly competitive, 10-week Research Experience for Undergraduates supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The program, titled “Regional Initiative to Promote Undergraduate Participation in Experimental and Computational Materials Research,” brought together students from across the country for intensive, interdisciplinary research. Hosted by the UAB Department of Physics and the Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration, the experience included a stipend, on-campus housing and travel support.

For Fernandez, a biology major who is also completing relevant coursework in chemistry, the opportunity grew out of research she conducted at Penn State Lehigh Valley with Julie Ealy, professor of chemistry, during the spring semester.

“I absolutely loved every moment of the experience,” Fernandez said. “As the semester progressed, I became so enthralled by the research process and everything I was learning along the way that I knew I needed to find a way to continue feeding that curiosity.”

Fernandez began searching for summer research programs and discovered that UAB was still accepting applications. Although the deadline was approaching, Ealy encouraged her to apply and provided a letter of recommendation.

“Daniela told me she wanted to apply when the deadline was almost closed,” Ealy said. “I wrote her recommendation letter on a Saturday evening, and she was accepted the following Tuesday. It was amazing.”

According to Ealy, Fernandez is the first Penn State Lehigh Valley student known to have been accepted into an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program.

Fernandez said she initially questioned whether her academic background would align with a program based in a physics department.

“The idea of stepping even further outside my discipline was intimidating, and I certainly had doubts about whether I would be considered,” she said. “Receiving an acceptance letter shortly after submitting the application quickly replaced my doubts with excitement and a hunger to learn.”

An interdisciplinary research experience

During the first week of the program, participants learned about available projects and met prospective faculty mentors before being matched with laboratories based on their interests.

Fernandez joined the research group of Eugenia Kharlampieva, professor of chemistry at UAB. Her project examined the properties of a material used to fabricate hydrogel capsules. Such capsules have potential applications in controlled drug delivery and diagnostic imaging.

The assignment represented a full-circle moment for Fernandez. As a high school student, she completed a Project Lead the Way capstone project exploring a medical application of hydrogels.

“That project sparked my initial interest in interdisciplinary work, so it was surreal to encounter the same concept again years later in an undergraduate research setting,” she said.

Over 10 weeks, Fernandez completed approximately 400 hours of research at the intersection of chemistry, materials science and biology. She gained experience with polymer and inorganic core synthesis, capsule fabrication and several advanced analytical and imaging techniques.

In addition to her laboratory work, Fernandez completed a midterm progress report, a research paper, a scientific poster and a three-minute presentation for other participants and mentors. She presented her poster at the UAB Summer Expo at the conclusion of the program.

“There were countless opportunities to learn new things and ask questions, but some of the most exhilarating moments came from the challenges we encountered during our hands-on experimentation,” Fernandez said.

Rather than viewing an unsuccessful experiment as a setback, she learned to treat it as an invitation to investigate further, reconsider assumptions and draw connections between earlier research and the questions in front of her.

“Completing the 10 weeks and seeing a finished product was incredibly rewarding, but reflecting on all of the experiences and lessons along the way has been the most important part to me,” Fernandez said. “The experience gave me a much better perspective on what research looks like at the graduate level.”

Building a foundation at Penn State Lehigh Valley

Fernandez credited her Penn State coursework, research opportunities and faculty mentorship with preparing her to contribute in an unfamiliar research environment.

Before attending UAB, she worked with Ealy on a computational chemistry research project during the spring 2026 semester. A poster based on that work was presented at a regional meeting of the American Chemical Society in Hershey, and Fernandez and Ealy are continuing to work on a manuscript.

Fernandez remained in frequent contact with Ealy throughout the summer.

“It was incredibly meaningful to share my experiences with someone who cared deeply about me as a student and as a person, but who also understood the science behind the work I was doing,” Fernandez said.

She also said she found herself regularly drawing upon concepts from Ealy’s general chemistry courses while working through problems at UAB.

“I was surprised by how many concepts from her classes resurfaced during my time at UAB and how applicable they became in an entirely different research environment,” Fernandez said. “Even when experiments went awry, I often found myself drawing upon concepts I had learned in her lectures to think through solutions.”

Ealy said Fernandez’s contributions extend well beyond her own academic work. Fernandez has served as a chemistry tutor for two years and is now a teaching assistant in three chemistry laboratories. She also tutors mathematics while completing a full academic schedule that includes two 400-level chemistry courses at Penn State Berks.

“I cannot say enough about Daniela,” Ealy said. “She is intelligent, kind and considerate, and her role as a teaching assistant in the chemistry laboratory is invaluable. She is doing a magnificent job.”

Giving other students confidence

Fernandez said tutoring has given her a strong sense of purpose and an opportunity to extend the encouragement she has received from her own professors and mentors.

“There is something really special about helping a student work through a concept they have been struggling with and then watching the ‘aha’ moment,” she said. “My goal is to have the student leave a session with a greater sense of their own capability.”

Her work as a teaching assistant has allowed her to support students during hands-on experiments while continuing to learn from Ealy’s approach to teaching and mentorship.

“I have been fortunate to have professors and mentors who took the time to encourage me and, most importantly, believe in me,” Fernandez said. “That has made all the difference in my experience and growth throughout these four years. I want to extend that same kindness and consideration to other students.”

Fernandez said she hopes her experience encourages other undergraduates to pursue opportunities even when they are uncertain whether they will be selected.

“The only person who can estimate your capacity is you,” she said. “Set the limit to infinity, and you would be surprised how far you can go.”