Yukiko Inokuchi

From one of her biology instructors, Yukiko Inokuchi learned about the ARC and its search for high-performing students to apply for opportunities to work in the College’s research labs. Inokuchi was hired to work with Dr. Ji Yong Yang on a project looking at the commercialization potential of feral hops from British Columbia. Specifically, she is working on identifying if the hundreds of BC feral hops are genetically unique and different to the known commercial varieties. She is using a DNA fingerprinting methodology involving SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to determine the genetic identities of these feral hops.

Though Inokuchi did not initially have plans to become a researcher, she enjoys working with ARC because it is an opportunity for her to apply what she has previously studied in both chemistry and multi-biology by using a hands-on scientific approach.

Inokuchi says, “You can learn a lot of things beyond [the] textbook,” and plans to apply what she has learned from her research through ARC to other companies that she may work for in the future.