Completing a study sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) may seem daunting for an undergraduate student, but for psychology major Brach Herzig ’20, it’s all in a day’s work.
This summer, Brach is interning with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, working on a project that examines the effects radiation exposure has on the central nervous system, in particular focusing on astronauts’ potential exposure to radiation.
“To simulate a space mission that extends beyond the Earth’s magnetosphere, many Long-Evans rats were exposed to certain amounts of controlled radiation for different lengths of time. The behavior of the rats after exposure to radiation is then observed at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine through many different tasks that the rats must complete. This internship has provided me not only the opportunity to explore a topic that interests me but also allowed me to explore a potential career path. I credit this opportunity to Dr. DeBerry and her class during JayTerm that helped tremendously with applying to science-related internships. I highly recommend it to all future students who are interested in finding a science-related internship,” Brach said.