Growing in Confidence as a Scientist and Researcher
Zoe Genant’s family members like to take turns predicting which profession she will ultimately pursue. Frankly, Genant, a member of the Class of 2024, has a lot of options, including medical doctor, researcher, educator and chemical engineer. The Parish, N.Y., native is a chemistry major and math minor. She has been accepted into the engineering partnership with Syracuse University (SU), which allows students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Le Moyne and a master’s degree in engineering from SU. Right now, it is safe to say that research is Genant’s first love. There is something about being in the lab, asking questions and applying concepts she has learned in the classroom in order to answer them, that is deeply rewarding to her.
Genant is a Clare Booth Luce (CBL) Research Scholar working with Associate Professor Chemistry Joe Mullins, Ph.D. Her CBL project focuses on synthesizing biphenyl thioureas and guanidines to obtain molecules with modified substituents and studying their properties to determine whether they have pharmaceutical potential for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. That includes Alzheimer’s disease, which impacts an estimated 6.5 million Americans. Mullins has said that Genant is “already ahead of the curve” with regard to her development as a scientist. She has learned to research substances and reactions using the Chemical Abstract Service to synthesize novel molecules and to verify structures using NMR, IR and Mass spectrometry. Genant said that she has grown in confidence as a researcher and a scientist since becoming a CBL Scholar.
“I’m not afraid to step out of my comfort zone and to take on things that are challenging,” she said. “I know that I am entering the right field.”
Named for playwright, journalist, U.S. ambassador to Italy and first woman elected to Congress from Connecticut, the CBL program encourages women like Genant to pursue vocations in science, mathematics and engineering by providing them with research, networking and professional development opportunities. It has become one of the single largest sources of private funding for women’s STEM higher education in the United States. To date, the program has provided 2,955 women in STEM at 214 institutions with grants totaling $217 million to conduct research.
This is an exciting time for people like Genant to be embarking upon a career in chemistry. The field is becoming more applied to create new materials with highly specified functions. And the CBL program is an especially good springboard to this work as it offers participants opportunities to create, to collaborate and to network with other burgeoning scientists while contributing to the body of knowledge. It is also deeply inspiring. Even at this early stage in her professional life, Genant is already envisioning how she herself can be a mentor one day.
“I know that eventually I’d also like to help the next generation pick up the mantel,” she said.
Beyond her research interests, Genant serves as a Stempower mentor and as treasurer of Dolphins Connect with Homeless Outreach, and participates in several other student clubs. After graduating from Le Moyne, Zoe would like to pursue a graduate degree and is considering a master’s degree in chemical engineering or a doctoral degree, through a Ph.D. or a combined M.D.-Ph.D. program.
This story is part of a series on students participating in the Clare Boothe Luce Research Scholars Program at Le Moyne.
