My main inspiration for my desire to pursue a degree in mathematics education is the great quality teachers from my years of school before college. Because of my academic achievements, I went on to obtain a full scholarship and department scholarship to Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) where my major became mathematics education. During my freshman year at MVSU, my academic advisor insisted that joining the Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences (MCIS) Club would be a great career move. Also, they encouraged us to get more involved outside of the department. For that, I joined the Student Government Association (SGA) as the Director of Student Activities where I managed the events for the student body. The staff of the MCIS Department suggests that the students of the MCIS department complete two tasks during the academic year: 1) tutor students in department-related classes and 2) apply for internships. Because of that encouragement for research experience from the staff, I discovered this internship from the Research Experience for Undergraduates in Ocean, Marine, and Polar Science program at Elizabeth City State University. 

In the summer of 2014, my first internship at Elizabeth City State University had begun. The title of this project is "A comparative study to the 2011/2013 water quality assessments in the Pasquotank Watershed in Northeastern North Carolina with a sea level rise component". This research was a great start for my teammate, Raveen McKenzie, and myself. Our mentor for this study was Jeff Wood. The main purpose for this research was to identify any correlations and variations that may relate to sea level rise. The water sources tested were Newbegun Creek, Mill Dam Creek, Areneuse Creek, the Pasquotank River, Sawyers Creek, and Knobbs Creek. Along with these water sources, the Lower Pasquotank became listed as an individual testing site where four new points were tested. Air/water temperature, dissolved oxygen, wind speed/direction, and turbidity/clarity measurements were taken in the field. Also, tests performed in the laboratory on this year’s samples included pH, salinity, total dissolved solids, and conductivity. The Water Quality Index Calculator was used to determine the water sources' health from a zero to one hundred range where zero to fifty is bad, fifty-one to seventy is medium, seventy-one to ninety is good, and ninety-one and one hundred is excellent. There were only three factors used for the Water Quality Index Calculator, and the factors were turbidity, pH, and percent saturation for dissolved oxygen. In conclusion, the overall health of each waterway remained consistent. The worst waterway tested was the Pasquotank River, and the best waterway tested was the Lower Pasquotank River.

During the academic year of 2014-2015, our research was presented in two conferences in the months of February and March. In the month of April, the Pasquotank Research was presented in the STEM Research Day. Our team received first in the mathematics category for poster presentations and advanced to the next round of presentations. We were later awarded the second place position for oral presentations. Also, my department chair, Dr. Garner, chose Johnny Gary and myself to conduct research using Mathematica. The title of the research was "Applications Using L'Hopital's Rule".  In June of 2015, the 2014 Pasquotank Watershed Team’s paper was published in the June edition of IGARSS 2015. My research partner, Raveen McKenzie, will present the paper, #6569, in Milan, Italy. This gives her the honor of having two publications to her name, and it gives myself the pleasure of having three publications under my belt.

For the summer of 2015, I returned to Elizabeth City State University for extended research. My mentor was Mr. Jeffrey Wood for a second year, and the title of the research was “A corresponding research of water quality evaluation in the Pasquotank Watershed in Northeastern North Carolina”. My research partners for this research were Raveen McKenzie, Steffi Walthall, and Ricky Dixon. The research was conducted to seek any trends and conclude the conditions of each waterway tested.  The results show that the overall water quality index score for all the tested water sources remained at a constant range compared to previous years. The water quality index score for Mill Dam Creek rose above the previous three scores of 48 (2011), 47 (2013), and 49 (2014) and achieved a medium water quality setting of 57. The score for Areneuse Creek increased and remained at a medium range score of 60. The Sawyers Creek’s score fell from its consistent medium range and became the lowest scoring waterway tested with a reading of 35. Knobbs Creek’s score decreased from previous years with a reading of 42. The score for NewBegun Creek fell within its medium water quality index range with a score of 65. The water quality reading for Pasquotank River rose from the previous testing year’s reading of 35 but still remained at within the bad water quality index range of 45. The Lower Pasquotank remained the best water quality index score for a second consecutive year at 85.