Dani Beatty
Danielle Beatty is a first-year graduate student studying under Professor Wil Srubar in the Living Materials Laboratory. Beatty completed a bachelor’s-master’s degree in materials science and engineering at the University of Utah in May 2020. Beatty hails from the Salt Lake City area.
What brought you to CU Boulder?
The main thing that brought me to CU was the interdisciplinary nature of the MSE program and the focus on environmental sustainability from multiple faculty. Most MSE programs I was looking at were much more traditional in their coursework and research focus, but CU stood out as a place where I could study different kinds of materials with the main prerogative of decreasing negative environmental impacts.
I am studying ways to make building materials more sustainable using biology with a civil engineering professor, which would not be possible in any other MSE program of which I am aware.
There was also a feeling of excitement from the faculty and students about their work and their lives here in Boulder. Being near the mountains and all the outdoor things I like to do, as well as being in a smaller college town that is part of a large metropolitan area, were also big factors in my decision to come to CU.
I became really excited about the prospect of studying materials science and engineering with the underlying purpose of increasing the sustainability of the materials we make and use. The program also seemed very welcoming and unpretentious despite all the high-ranking professors and research within it.
What is the focus of your research thus far? What problems do you hope to solve?
My research is focused on using microorganisms to create biologically derived materials, which we can then use to make more sustainable building materials. I hope to help reduce the environmental footprint of current building materials and potentially help develop new, greener alternatives. I also ultimately want to move the field of MSE toward a more sustainable approach to materials development that considers all aspects of materials design—from raw materials all the way through to end-of-life and reuse.
How has the program benefited your research?
I am still pretty new to the program and to my research, but so far the program seems very supportive of all kinds of research and of fostering collaborations between students and between labs and professors. The MSE program also does an amazing job of meeting you where you are and working with your interests and what you want to get out of the program.
Coming in with a BS/MS degree, I have been able to work with the MSE program to transfer credits toward my PhD here at CU and to select courses that will benefit my interdisciplinary research while also counting towards my degree requirements.
What is a problem or challenge you encountered as a student here, and how did you overcome it? Who gave you a helping hand?
As I am sure most first-years would agree, starting a PhD in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic was a big challenge and was quite a struggle at times. It was very difficult to try to get started on new research that I do not have a solid background in, while also taking classes and trying to get settled into a new city and new routine. Having the support of my research advisor and the MSE academic advisors Laramie and Alex was a huge help dealing with all of this.
There is also a program here at CU open to all graduate students called Endurance PhD, which I am participating in. It helped me deal with all of these struggles through the fall semester. Its main purpose is to help grad students deal with PhD life struggles and gives us strategies to successfully, happily and healthily work and grow through our PhD programs.
Overall, just knowing that I had the support and understanding of the MSE program while dealing with a lot of difficult new things relieved some stress and helped me work through everything.
How do you strike a balance between your work as a student and your personal life? Does the program allow for that?
While everyone here is very excited about and dedicated to their work, it also seems that everyone makes time to do the things they love outside of work as well—including professors! Boulder definitely has a work-hard-play-hard feeling to it, where everyone is just excited about what they do, both during work and when they are actively choosing not to work.
Some of this balance will be dictated by which lab group you join and how you are as a person, but in my experience having a work-life balance is encouraged. I have definitely been able to start figuring out this balance during my first year, and I know a lot of the other PhD students in the program do have a healthy balance between the two.
I have been able to make school and research progress while also making time for the non-work-related things I enjoy doing, like running and skiing and spending time with my significant other. Having a set schedule of work-specific hours has helped, especially when a lot of work still happens from home, and planning out research, school and personal activities each week helps as well.
Why might you recommend MSE to students considering a graduate program in science and engineering?
All other science and engineering disciplines are limited by and built on the materials they have access to. One reason I think MSE is so interesting is that you get to study and make those new materials that everyone else will be using a few years from now.
MSE is also extremely interdisciplinary, especially here at CU Boulder, encompassing everything from biology to physics. This enables a lot of exploration and gives you a lot of options as you move through your career. It is also a fast-moving and exciting field where there is always something new and interesting on the horizon.
For anyone interested in sustainability-related things, MSE has a huge role to play in designing the next generation of green materials: from renewable energy to fully recyclable or compostable materials and everything in between.
Where might you want to go next?
One of the reasons I am pursuing a PhD is because I love teaching, and I would like to keep that option on the table. I am definitely considering jobs in academia but may also explore industry first following graduation. Luckily, I have a few years to figure this out!
What do you do for fun or in your spare time?
I enjoy many of the outdoorsy things Boulder has to offer! I ride my bike to school and run along the bike paths all around Boulder. I go skiing most weekends, and I enjoy trail running, hiking and backpacking. I also love reading books for fun and cooking both new and tried-and-true recipes, which I do most nights. I also really enjoy going to sporting events and hope to be able to go to both CU and professional team events throughout the Denver area as vaccines roll out throughout this next year. The same goes for live concerts, theatrical productions and art shows.
What is your favorite film(s), book(s), sport(s) or other media-related interests, and why? Do your interests in art, literature, and cinema have an influence on your research and goals as a materials scientist?
My favorite series is Harry Potter, mainly because it played a huge role in my childhood and growing up and I just love it. My favorite genre is probably crime—both true crime and crime fiction—or thriller novels, but I also enjoy reading science-y books about things I am not directly studying that are written in a fun, novel-like way—for example: books about quantum biology, mosquitoes, emotions and neuroscience, etc.
I tend to be drawn towards books where I can learn something new, especially if it has nothing to do with materials science. I think this generally keeps me curious about the world and how things work, and I am always thinking of the materials science considerations that come into play in all these different books and ideas.
I think the biggest influence these various books have on my research is on my insistence that research be written and effectively communicated for a general audience so everyone can learn and benefit from it.
I am also interested in art history but have fallen off studying this over the past few years. I played sports all throughout high school, and I still enjoy watching all kinds of sports, especially at the college level.
Although I haven’t been able to yet since moving to Boulder, I also make my own functional ceramics, like bowls, plates, mugs, etc. While ceramics are a class of functional materials, they are also a class of advanced engineering materials, and having an understanding of and actively studying both types has informed both my artistic side of throwing ceramics and my engineering side of making them for advanced applications.