This fall, Keiana Cavé entered the freshman class here at The University of Michigan, and has already made her mark as a Wolverine. Keiana recently returned from the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit in Boston, which is a gathering of some of the brightest young leaders and stars.
Keiana developed a passion for science and research in her hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. As a sophomore in high school, she became interested in the BP oil spill and began observing its effects. Keiana reached out to a professor at the University of New Orleans, and was eventually able to do an independent project and publish her first paper in a science journal. This past summer, she went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and invented a molecule with hopes for it to be the next dominant oil dispersant. “There was a dispersant used during the BP oil spill, but they found out later that it actually did more harm than good,” Keiana says. “So I’m pretty much trying to develop the one that could be used in the next major catastrophe.”
Dr. Alec Gallimore, Michigan’s Dean of Engineering, granted Keiana her own lab that she is currently in the process of setting up with her funding from Chevron. Life as a researcher and as a U of M student isn’t exactly a walk in the park, but Keiana finds time to take a break from work by spending time with her friends, and relaxes by doing yoga.
Keiana admits that she decided to come to Michigan as she fell in love with the campus, and is currently deciding between majoring in Chemical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering, along with an interest in Entrepreneurship. She also admits that her favorite thing about science is its ambiguity, and “the fact that at any moment, some scientist could come in and say, ‘no that’s wrong!’” Keiana’s accomplishments at the age of 18 attest to her motivation and passion for her work, and also prove that she definitely belongs among the leaders and best!
Photo courtesy of NOLA.com.