Clayton Koff
Staff Writer
Emily Morley, a chemistry student, has dedicated the last three years of her life to diligently researching different applications for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). But Morley’s research is hard-pressed for time.
She only has a year left before she graduates, which means she has limited time left to work on her research. Her hope is to start testing drug delivery for her MOFs before she graduates and hopes that she will be able to pass on her research to someone else when she leaves.
“Getting my Ph.D is my next step and unfortunately ISU doesn’t have the program I need, so I might not be able to finish in time,” Morley said. “I am hoping one of the girls in my lab will be able to continue my research once I am gone. There’s nothing like it in the medical field right now and I think it has a lot of great potential.”
MOFs are made of highly porous and highly crystalline materials that are great at holding things like hydrogen and other gases. Morley’s main goal is to create a better delivery system for pharmaceuticals and other biomedical purposes.
“First of all, I am not a biologist,” she said. “I am not interested in making better medicine. I am interested in using MOFs for a better drug delivery system. The biggest challenge is the MOFs dissolve in water and I only have 10 hours a week of lab time to get everything done.”
When Morley first came to ISU, she didn’t start out as a chemist. In fact, when she came to Pocatello from Montana, she originally intended to become a dentist. Only upon receiving a S.T.E.M. scholarship did she even consider chemistry. The S.T.E.M. is a $10,000 a year scholarship that is given to people majoring in S.T.E.M. programs. On top of that, she received a lab position her freshman year, typically something that doesn’t happen.
“Receiving the grant really pushed me into the chemistry direction and I lucked out getting a lab my freshman year,” she said. “I struggled really bad the whole time, but I eventually got it.”
Morley says she enjoyed organic chemistry and getting to know the ISU faculty. She says that joining Chem Club made her decision easy.
Chem Club, as Morley described it, has 40 members and is important for public outreach. But they also do a lot of fun things, like go on rafting trips that are completely paid for, putting on a yearly magic show and making liquid nitrogen ice cream.
Morley explained that the heart of the chemistry department is broken into three main things. The first is research, the second is S.T.E.M. and the third is Chem Club.
“Out of everything, public outreach is what I love most about it,” Morley said. The potential possibilities of my research are super exciting, but seeing kids get excited about science is really the best part.”
