About Me




Hello there, my name is Isel Rivera the creator of  ChattyPhD and a Chemist.

My original birth place is Villa Clara, Cuba. However, I been here 12 years and became a citizen in 2017.  

In college where I started my undergraduate career, I was student body president and participated in various club activities while taking extra English classes.

After graduating from Hillsborough Community College I transferred to University of South Florida with a bachelors in Chemical Engineering. Because learning the concepts behind the applications was what excited me about science, I end up switching to Chemistry with a Biochemistry concentration and a Minor in Infectious Diseases.

During the junior year at USF, I started undergraduate research and stayed for about 2 years and authored 3 research poster presentations under Dr. Li June Ming and Shahed Islam at USF.

In USF graduation night I received a fellowship offer from the American Chemical Society Bridge Program and Indiana University to pursuit a doctorate degree in Chemistry. 

Currently, I completed 2 years of graduate studies under Dr. Yan Yu's mentorship, performed a lot of fun Chemistry experiments with cells and nanoparticles, and wrote a 134 page thesis to graduate with a Master of Science in Chemistry. I also started working for Baxter Pharmaceutical Solutions here in Bloomington, where I ensure quality of really important products such as the COVID-19 vaccine. 

  It is nice to meet you and hope you enjoy my stories! 

ChattyPhD


Popular posts from this blog

From PhD to MS in Chemistry, now entering the work force.

 Hello guys:           Is been a while since I have been here. Mainly, because I was busy trying to finished all of the experiments for my master thesis. So flash news, I decided to graduate with a masters in Chemistry instead of continuing with a PhD, at least for right now, and yei I just submitted my work yesterday. So hopefully my work will be available in Google Scholar soon. For those interested my thesis title is: "Evaluation of cytotoxicity of amphiphilic Janus nanoparticles in an immune cell model".          So why did I choose to go for a masters instead of going for a PhD? Well, throughout my undergraduate career and the two years I have been in graduate school I didn't have the opportunity to intern at any chemical company. Because of this reason, last year I felt that I lacked field experience, I really was wondering where I would end up. Also, I really wanted to help directly in the ...
Read more

Impostor syndrome and being kind to yourself.

        Hi there, Chatty friends! Today this post is dedicated to how I dealt with impostor syndrome.  In Twitter I am always attentive to other's struggles with mental health. Also, I hear stories around me and try to reflect and apply their take away to my own personal life. The problem is that as humans and as flawed as we are, we tend to be our hardest critics.             For the longest time, my inner voice played in repeat about how my experiences could have been managed better. I criticized myself harshly, which instantly often provoked self-doubt. The lack of identifying as worthy individual resurfaced my "impostor syndrome".              To battle my impostor syndrome, I recognized that in college, there are going to be plenty of moments of self-doubt. To eliminate the problem, I identified questions or demeanor that resurfaced the issue. A ...
Read more

Getting into and surviving college, language barrier, and being an engaging student.

Image
Hi chattyPhD friends! Today I would like to emphasize the crucial role of being an engaging student  as well as adding a little more to my academic journey.   How do you act when confronted by a language you were not taught growing up? Maybe for you results in an awkward conversation that involves hand miming.   For me it involved a daily routine of watching Criminal Minds, reading school assignments, and speaking in front of a mirror.   Until this day the English language is an obstacle. For me it takes extra dedication and work when writing a sentence, or reading papers. However, there is always an upside.   Entering college requires students to pass several standardized exams. Back when I was in high school, the tests were the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), SAT, ACT, among others.   After only one year in an American high school and attempting to continue my pursuit to be a scientists there were some major road blocks....
Read more