Joey has experienced varied educational opportunities including homeschooling, summer programs at Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth and Wichita State University's Mindstorms competition. His interest in science has precipitated his studying and dissecting cats, fetal pigs, cow eyes, sheep brains, cow hearts, etc… He has specific interest in cellular biology and human physiology. Joey's friendly attitude and sense of humor always keeps those around him smiling. He asks thoughtful questions of the scientists, works well with any team, and takes care of his fellow Argos with a gentle heart.

My hero is definitely Albert Einstein. When most people think of Einstein, they think of his theory of relativity and the rest of the phenomenal work he did in the fields of physics and mathematics. However, I personally think that the things that really matter about Einstein have to do not just with his accomplishments, but with his entire approach to life. He was interested in changing the way people thought about things. If he saw something that was in error, he set about trying to fix the erroneous thinking. Einstein wasn't afraid to take chances or to make mistakes. In his own words, "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." And Einstein was all about trying new things. He thought outside of the box. He focused on the simplest of observations, and from those observations developed theories that changed the world. 

I've thought about Einstein a great deal during my JASON missions. I believe Einstein would be all over the energy crisis, trying to find innovative ways to solve the situation our world is currently facing. I can see him "living it up" sifting through Alpaca poop and cultivating grub enzymes. Einstein said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Alternate energy sources would be right up his alley.

Today was our first day of JASON adventures. We met our Host Researcher, Dr. Martin Keller, the director of the BioEnergy Science Center at Oakridge National Laboratory and a biofuels expert. Dr. Keller gave us a presentation on the basis of biofuels and the research and technology needed to make biofuels a strong alternative to petroleum energy. I had no idea there was so much involved in making biofuels.

Dr. Keller's current research is to find an enzyme, maybe in a bug or Alpaca poop, which will make it easier to break down the biomass into simple sugars. This would make biofuels more energy-efficient to create and would simplify the process. Instead of having to enrich the biomass many times, the process would include simple fermentation and would give biofuels more bang for the buck!

Einstein is my hero, but Dr. Martin Keller has become my inspiration. Actually, Dr. Keller reminds me quite a bit of Einstein. He has a heavy German accent; he likes thinking outside of the box; and he is searching for the solution to a huge problem (the energy crisis) in simple things. I mean, who else would have thought of finding the answer to clean energy in stinky, vile substances like alpaca poop and grubs! Dr. Keller is amazingly talented and extremely knowledgeable, not to mention funny! He's the only one I know who can be an expert on extremely complicated subjects and also be a beast at Guitar Hero! 

Dr. Keller is passionate about solving the energy crisis, and that passion is contagious. He is articulate and easy to understand, breaking down even the most complicated issues into comprehensible pieces of information. I found him to be an encourager and true motivator. 

Since returning home from Mission 4, I have found myself measuring my actions, pursuits, and enthusiasm against Dr. Keller. At the end of Mission 4, Dr. Keller challenged each of us to take what we had learned in Mission 4 and apply it to our own life. He challenged us to get our friends together and search for answers to the energy crisis in our own backyards. And whether my friends like it or not, they are going to do just that. I have been totally inspired by a man whom I find to be both genius and sincere, a true Dr. Einstein. I intend to dedicate my life to science and to measure my achievements in the manner in which Dr. Keller has taught me to measure success. 

With the grub guts under control, we moved on to the Alpaca poop. First, we looked at the Alpaca poop under the microscope. Then, we tested the samples to see if the animals had the enzymes in the poop to effectively break down the biomass (previously eaten by the Alpaca) into simple sugars. We did this by looking at samples in a spectrometer. We placed our sample in the spectrometer, where the sample passed through a laser beam. The denser the sugar molecules in the sample, the less the beam bounced off of it. The samples with sparse sugar molecules were not good ethanol makers. As a whole, our group determined that our collected samples indicated positive ethanol makers. This was very exciting!

It may sound crazy, but I am having a blast working with grub guts and Alpaca poop! I am learning so much and feel like I am truly on the cutting edge of science technology!

We moved to the "computer room," where we saw the Jaguar and Kraken super computers. My view of what a computer is has completely changed! There were monitors bigger than I am. The storage memory in the Jaguar is equivalent to 20,000 iPhones. Now, that's a lot of songs! These computers have been used when completing some of the most influential research in our time, including global warming experiments. They're also famous, as both Al Gore and George W. Bush have signed them, not to mention a plethora of famous scientists. The "computer room" was over half an acre of incredible technology and held a lifetime of significance. It was amazing!!

When Dr. Janet Green, our host researcher for Mission 1, had finished her presentation, my mind was full of questions, all of which Dr. Green enthusiastically answered. One of the things she explained was how astronauts protect themselves when they realize a solar flare is coming. There is a special UV ray protection room in the spaceship they enter. The rays cannot enter this room, so the astronauts are fully protected from the flare. I can really relate to this approach of self-preservation because I am from Kansas, home of monster tornados. When we know a tornado is coming, we head to our basements to a special tornado shelter room. The structure of this room is built in such a way that it is unlikely a tornado will hurt us or the structure. 

I think the greatest impact JASON has had on my life has been helping me see how big science really is and how largely it influences day-to-day life. Science incorporates so many fields and so many people! Before being a JASON Argonaut, I didn't realize that so many different scientists, separated by thousands of miles, are constantly working together to solve problems that affect the daily life of people everywhere. I find that amazing!

The second greatest impact JASON has had on my life has been making me realize that my dream of becoming a great scientist is totally possible. I've always really liked science, and I've understood that there have been great scientists who made great discoveries. However, before becoming a JASON Argonaut, I tended to think of science as tables and laws that needed to be memorized. I had the idea that all I needed to know about science was contained in the pages of my 500-page science textbooks. I had the conception that if I could just learn all of that information, I would be well on my way to becoming one of those great scientists who made great discoveries. 

After having been an Argonaut, though, I realize that I was highly mistaken. Science is living and active and ever-evolving. The information in the textbooks is only a foundation upon which to build. It is not the road that leads to greatness. Instead, curiosity, experimenting, thinking about things in a new way, and imagination are really the true tools of science and scientific discovery. I used to think that the "fun" in science—the experiments and hands-on studying—was just the icing on the cake, so to speak, that having fun (something I really like to do) would stop once I aggressively pursued a career in science. Now, I know that the "fun" part is real science, and that my life as a scientist will be a constant adventure and loads of fun! 

Before JASON I dreamed about being a great scientist and making great discoveries, but I never really thought that would be a reality. Now, I know it can be. Scientists are regular people, just like me. They are people who have a vision for something better, and the imagination and determination to pursue that vision. They are people who like to take chances and live on the edge a little. I am so up for the challenge of being a scientist!