Noah Tufts was named one of our Undergraduates of the Quarter for Fall 2020 and we’re thrilled to include him!
Noah is an Oregon native and grew up in Aloha before his family moved to Banks. He attended Forest Grove High School where he got a chance to apply his interest in chemistry. His father was a chemist and while he never pushed Noah into pursuing chemistry, he was always fascinated by what his father did as part of his career. He wound up enjoying his high school chemistry course and soon moved into honors chemistry. There he met another teacher who helped stoke his interest, Morey Miller. While TAing and attending AP Chemistry, Mr. Miller gave Noah the chance to run his own experiments and despite his limited success, it solidified his interest in both research and chemistry.
Wanting to remain close to his family and his home state, OSU was a clear choice for his academic pursuits. He felt that a local school meant he could keep costs low but still have the potential to get involved in research and other opportunities as he discovered them. In fact, it was in Dr. Gable’s CH361 course that he discovered his love of experimental chemistry and decided that research was where he wanted to be. He began asking around for opportunities, meeting TAs and generally getting to know who was looking for researchers. Befriending one of the TA’s in Dr. Gable’s class helped him to find a possible research home in with Dr. Beaudry’s group. He made a point to attend every one of their group meetings and soon enough, a spot opened up and he was able to join.
Currently, he is working to develop additional methods of optimizing the production of homoherringonine (a drug used to treat leukemia) from its primary intermediary, cephalotaxine-g. He’s not alone in the project, as the lab often has a total of 6-10 people any given term, and it’s an exciting chance to meet new people as the year progresses. He hopes to move into graduate studies after he has completed his degree and eventually move into Organic Synthesis.
When he’s not in the lab, he is an avid Taekwondo student and is a part of the OSU Taekwondo club. He enjoys the movie, “The Red Turtle” and eating any flavor of curry he can find. We wish Noah well in his pursuits and are glad to have such a passionate and dedicated undergraduate working in our research labs!
