Summer Research Fellow Spotlight Michelle Imarah

The purpose of Michelle's summer research project is to predict landslides using satellite data. For this project, she's using data from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission and the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission to get historical soil moisture and rainfall data at several landslide sites around the world.

Q: How did you first get interested in undergraduate research at UK?

A: "In my sophomore year, I enrolled in an engineering research course where I got to work with a faculty mentor for that whole semester on a research topic. It was a great learning experience and I decided to continue research through the whole summer."

Q: How long have you been engaged in undergraduate research?

A: "Two years"

Q: Describe what a typical day of remote summer research activity looks like for you. How does this differ from your pre-COVID research activity?

A: "Before COVID, there were a lot of in-person meetings with my faculty and mentor which included lab work. However, with remote research, communication is done through emails and zoom meetings."

Q: What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?

A: "The most exciting aspect has been writing and editing my paper on the results I have compiled over the research. "

Q: What advice would you give to other UK students thinking about doing research?

A: "I highly recommend research as your first step into experiential learning. Research allows you to know what you are interested in and gives you an idea of the kind of work you want to do in your career path"

The UK Office of Undergraduate Research's Summer Research & Creativity Fellowship program provides undergraduates with the opportunity to study in a wide variety of disciplines while doing intensive and self-directed research under the supervision of a faculty mentor.