Humans of Moscow: Sara Murphy conducts biofuel research utilized by US Air Force

Q: Can you tell me about your research and how it got started?

A: When I first started at the University of Idaho, I got involved in a program called Vandal Clean Energy Club, and they introduced me to the biodiesel lab. I was really interested in biofuels and their applications for sustainability and utilization and ended up working with a graduate student named Brian Hanson to create a possible jet fuel from bio-jet fuel. I ended up writing a grant proposal for the Office of Undergraduate Research, and I was awarded a grant to preform research on aviation biofuel the summer of my sophomore year. My research was mostly about finding a fuel that had good coastal properties, the temperature at which fuel freezes at or starts to freeze at. The research was about finding what compounds would work best and what was the most economical choice. That research is now being utilized by the Air Force and has been awarded grants for the military to further investigate other properties of it. I’m not really involved with the project anymore because I wanted to get some other experience in other fields, but it was a really cool.

Q: What other experiences have you had since?

A: After I was done with that, I got a cool opportunity to work under two former chemical engineering professors. The research I’m working on now involves lead battery acid, like the battery that’s in your car. My research involves adding additives to lead acid batteries and seeing if it improves their performance. I work with lead and sulfuric acid. I joke around because I work in a ‘dirty room’ instead of a ‘clean room, so I put little booties on my feet, a lab jacket, goggles, everything – and I have to clean the entire room because lead can seep through the concrete. I construct the plates and the batteries myself and monitor them. We’re seeing if we can see improved performance by adding these additives. It’s important because lead acid batteries are still really prevalent in our life, so if we can make them last longer and get more performance out of them it’s more sustainable.

Q: How time consuming is that for you?

A: It depends on the week. Right now, I have batteries going, so every day I check them, and they’re screwed in, so I have to unscrew them, open them up, check every acid, record it in a computer and then fill them with water. And I also have another job – my life is insane. I would say about five to six hours per week of work, but it depends because the research fluctuates.

Q: Where else do you work?

A: My other job is through the U.S. Department of Energy. I work for a small program called the Industrial Assessment Center. We go through local industries – we went to Clarkston Wastewater, Lewiston Wastewater, Plywood Mill – and we do the ‘how it’s made’ of engineering. We look at how things are designed, how they’re built, and how they can save energy. We can say, “You don’t need this part of the process because it’s not energy efficient, you should do this instead.”

Q: As someone who is super involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics inside and outside of school, what has your experience been like as a woman in the field?

A: That’s a valid question because especially in engineering there aren’t very many women. My class has 14 people and three of them are women. At UI, I’ve been lucky because – at least in the College of Engineering – we have a really supportive administration and department that supports women in engineering and in the field. I was part of the Society of Women Engineers and I went to a conference with 14,000 other female engineers, and you get to talk about what it’s like to be a female engineer in the industry. It was a very empowering experience. But on the flipside of that, it is hard. I have not experienced bias nearly as much as a lot of other women have, but it’s difficult because you do often get spoken over. You don’t have this air of confidence like some men have, and because you’re the minority in the room often you feel like you have to prove yourself. A lot of women in STEM tend to be harder on themselves, and that’s why we don’t have a higher retention rate. They get a B on a test and they’re like, “Oh no I can’t do this, I’m not smart enough,” and then a guy gets a C on a test and he’s like, “Cool, passing.” That’s not how everyone is, but as a wide generalization that’s how I understand it to be. It’s harder to climb the glass ceiling without being assertive and showing your knowledge and understanding. I would say I’m very lucky to have experience with supportive mentors, both men and women. Women bond together and I’ve had a lot of mentorship opportunities with other women in STEM, which is nice because you can work together and help each other out.

Q: What about STEM empowers you? A: I enjoy being a mentor and being mentored. You don’t see a lot of women in engineering, especially in media. It’s more celebrities or movie stars or actresses or singers, but you don’t see a lot of women in science that are popular or publicized. I really want to be a woman that other little girls or younger women can look up to and see I wasn’t perfect, I didn’t get all A’s, but I can be a real role model to younger women that want to pursue these fields. I have mentors that I look up to who aren’t perfect, so having that not-perfect mentor that you can look up to and say, “Hey, I can get through this, I can do this.” Every day that’s what gets me out of bed. I can help someone else see that if they can get through it, I can get through it.