Oct. 31, 2024
In fourth grade, Zuben Shelburn attended a field trip to a Physics Lab.
Zuben was a part of WINGS, a K-5 program to provide academically challenging and rigorous learning experiences for gifted students at Phelps Center for Gifted Education. Zuben went to Phelps one day a week for years, but his field trip to the Missouri State University Department of Physics, Astronomy and Materials Science has made a huge impact on him.
“I remember visiting the Physics Lab and being curious,” said Zuben. “I discovered there were high school students who did research alongside professors at MSU. And when I got to Parkview, I knew I wanted to find a place at MSU where I could conduct research, too. My science teacher helped me get connected to different professors to see what research they were doing, and Dr. Besara’s work sounded really interesting.”
Now a senior at Parkview High School, Zuben is a researcher in the Besara Physics Lab at Missouri State University. Twice a week after school, Zuben conducts research, collects data and assists Dr. Tiglet Besara, a tenured Physics professor at MSU. He’s done this work for nearly a year.
In a white coat and in a lab, Zuben isn’t job shadowing, he’s actively continuing and exploring research as a contributor in the Physics Lab, says Dr. Besara.
“Zuben is preparing chemicals that will be subjected to very high levels of heat to see what new materials may be created in the lab,” said Dr. Besara. “Zuben is exploring research that started from undergraduate and graduate students before him, and his contributions have an impact. Other students will continue his work after Zuben leaves.”
Dr. Besara’s research is focused on the discovery of new materials that could revolutionize future technologies. His work involves the exploratory growth of materials, particularly using a technique known as the flux method to combine elements from the periodic table. Additionally, Dr. Besara and his research team is exploring topological semimetals, materials with unique conductive properties that could have significant applications in electronics.
Zuben is a thoughtful, curious learner, following instructions from Dr. Besara with diligence and purpose. He calculates amounts of chemicals for all reactions and mixes them. He prepares samples for X-ray diffraction and crystallography to find the atomic structures of new materials. His potentially new compounds will be tested for their magnetic puroperties.
As a high school student, Zuben is truly in his element in a Physics Lab, working alongside an innovative scientist and physicist. Zuben’s goal? To be a physics professor with tenure, conducting his own research.
“Last year, we worked with single crystal growth compounds with intermetallics and the creation of ternary compounds. We observed the shape of the crystals with a scanning electron microscope,” said Zuben. “I’m a naturally curious person, and I love research. This is what I want to do.”
