Conner Bailey has been named one of the Winter 2019 Undergraduates of the Quarter and we couldn’t be happier for him. Connor grew up in Beaverton Oregon just outside of Portland. He attended Southridge High School for all four years where he found his passion for chemistry through taking stem chemistry in school. His teacher was a chemical engineer before becoming a teacher so he was able to show the students a lot of analytical instruments which sparked his interest in analytical chemistry.

            Conner’s family has a long line of beaver’s from his brothers to his dad, beaver pride runs in his family. Conner was also drawn to Oregon State University due to the chemistry program and the things it has to offer.

Last summer Conner did research under Dr. Maier, he worked on the preliminary research of gangliosides. Through the research they were trying to find methods to separate the gangliosides so that they could get a full analysis of the compounds. Conner received the opportunity to do research through the university’s Summer Undergraduate Research Engagement program.

            Post-graduation Conner hopes to go to graduate school to pursue a PhD in chemistry. Currently he has been accepted into a PhD program at Washington State University.

            Outside of school you can find Conner either kicking a ball around on the soccer field or working on has magic trick skills. Conner has been a magician since middle school, maybe through his degree Conner will be able to hone his magic skills.

            Students like Conner are a huge part of what makes our Department so great.  We wish him well in the future, and cannot wait to see what his next big adventure is.