Helena Sokolovska

I have experience with MS Office, R-Commander, WebMO, the MicroLab interface with spectrophotometers/pH meters/time probes, and with programming a DAQ device for use with LabVIEW. Oh, and of course I have experience designing and managing a Blogger website! Continue reading for further detail on my experience with each software. MS Office: Experience with Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel in UBC classes + laboratories. Excel budgeting experience during my time in Dunbar Youth Council . R-Commander: Training in the use of R-Commander in STAT 200 (Elementary Statistics for Applications) at UBC WebMO: Experience using WebMO to calculate excited/ground-state energies of molecules with/without solvent interaction for CHEM 211 (Analytical Chemistry) at UBC. Microlab Interface: Experience using the MicroLab interface with spectrophotometers/pH meters/time probes for experiments in CHEM 211 (Analytical Chemistry) at UBC. DAQ device for use with LabVIEW: Experience programm

From Sept. 2017 - Apr. 2018: I was involved in performing site-directed mutagenesis in the model organism yeast ( S. cerevisiae ), in order to elucidate the role of endosomal transport mutations on human neurological disorders. This involved isolating DNA from yeast and E. coli , PCR, DNA transformation, gel electrophoresis, genotyping, SDS-PAGE, and Western blotting. I concurrently produced lab notes for reproducibility of my work. On our computers, I logged/processed new DNA oligomers and updated the MSDS database. Last but certainly not least, I kept up with the restocking and maintenance demands for the entire lab.

From Apr. 2017 - Jan. 2018: The museum contained over 2 million specimens (including holotype specimens), and so doubled as a specimen archive used for research. I was entrusted with handling these delicate samples, from lichen to Cordyceps fungi to skunk scent glands. For the purposes of visitor education, I remained up-to-date on the vast diversity of species, their background, evolutionary history, and conservation.  My role in interpreting the significance of these specimens to museum visitors from diverse backgrounds solidified my communication skills in education.

From Nov. 2015 - Sept. 2017: I was responsible for operating the depot and assisting customers during shifts. The Green Depot had just opened and hence there were a few minor growing pains. Through attentiveness and commitment to Green Depot success, I designed and suggested new systems and features for increasing customer service satisfaction. These included: Moving entrance card requirement signs to the front door (new visitors often came in without their required UNA card). Catching and patching a fault in the entrance token system, potentially saving the depot thousands of dollars.

From Oct. 2015 - Jun. 2016: In University Hill Secondary School, I co-founded World Vision Youth U-Hill : a volunteer club affiliated with World Vision Youth Canada. Together, our team o rganized and executed successful fundraising sales/drives. One example of such an event was our Children's Book Drive , which raised 200 books in a few days.

From Sept. 2013 - Jun. 2014, Sept. - Dec. 2015: Planning and executing grand-scale community events necessitated excellent time management, accuracy, and foresight. My resourcefulness and ability to solve problems under pressure was a crucial aspect in remedying any unexpected issues that arose during events. My portfolio of successful events--involving teamwork and collaboration with hundreds of volunteers--serves to demonstrate that not only am I an adaptive team player, but can lead and independently make critical, far-reaching decisions.

From Jan. 30-31, 2015: My passion for medical research led me to volunteer at the Alzheimer Public Forum in 2015, where I coordinated with clinicians, researchers, event staff, and speakers to deliver an informative update on Alzheimer treatment/therapy research. While maturing my interpersonal skills and appreciation for teamwork, I simultaneously quenched my own curiosity for medicine, viewing the lectures during my breaks.