Jason Srey has been named one of the Spring 2018 Undergraduates of the Quarter, and we couldn’t be more pleased.

Jason was born in Chicago, Illinois, but spent most of his life in Clackamas. He attended Clackamas High School.

Jason chose chemistry because he wanted to learn more about how atoms and molecules react. His curiosity was piqued when his 7th grade science teacher made a gummy bear explode in a test tube. Jason was also often sick throughout his childhood and spent a lot of time in doctor’s offices and pharmacies. This exposure to the world of medicine along with the introduction to chemistry during 7th grade science class first attracted him to chemistry.

He wants to be in the medical field because of how large of a role it played in his childhood and because it is related to his favorite subject. He researched the world of pharmacy and decided that was where he wanted to go in life, and is using chemistry as a basis for achieving that goal. Jason currently performs research for Dr. Sandra Loesgen, and focuses on discovering new antibiotics or anti-cancer compounds by feeding synthetic compounds to fungal cultures as precursors. He has been there since mid fall term, and credits his introduction to research to Dr. Neal Sleszynski who helped him initially contact three professors who are doing work in areas of interest.

In his spare time Jason likes to listen to, and perform music. He has practiced the violin for five years and taught himself to play the piano through online tutorials in his spare time. He likes all genres of music besides classical, and his favorite movie is Titanic.