Undergraduate profile: Madison Flowers
2025-01-21
Writer(s): Steve Scherer
Chemistry major Madison Flowers is pleased with the harmony she has discovered at Purdue.
“I think I have curated a nice blend of academics balanced with activities outside the lab and classroom,” said Flowers, a junior from Palatine, Illinois.
In addition to managing her coursework and lab research, Flowers is vice president of the American Chemical Society Student Affiliate club, a Women In Science Program learning community mentor, and a Chemistry Resource Room tutor.
“And my creative outlets are playing the cello in a Purdue orchestra, and singing in my rock band, Supernatural Selection,” added Flowers, who says science and music are her top two passions.
She says her interest in science grew throughout elementary and middle school, but it wasn’t until her sophomore year of high school when she fell in love with chemistry because of her coursework and competing in the Science Olympiad forensics event.
“My first year on the JV team, I didn’t even have a partner for most of the season, but I didn’t care because I had fun figuring it out mostly by myself. On days when I went in before school to practice, my classmates asked me in first period why I had weird goggle-marks on my face, and while I should’ve been embarrassed, I just grinned with pride and told them ‘Chemistry!’” she laughed.
Flowers says she chose Purdue based on its reputation and as a place to surround herself with others who shared the same passion for science.
“I put Purdue on my list when I read that it had a decently ranked chemistry program. But its size, opportunities, and the department’s impressive history drew me in,” she remembered.
She is currently a lab member in Professor Mark Lipton’s group that specializes in organic synthesis research.
“A lot of the projects have the end goal of paving new ways of synthesis that can be used to improve medicinal chemistry and hopefully be applied to drug development,” she said.
Flowers says her current project is exploring a new method of synthesizing polypeptides by taking advantage of DNA ligation. She is working on this challenge with two graduate students in the Lipton Lab.
“Expanding the limits of peptide synthesis has been a large area of research in chemistry this century. Basically, this method involves synthesizing reagents that will help create the phosphate and thioester linkages between a strand of DNA and a peptide,” she explained.
(Professor Mark Lipton lab group photo, with Flowers in front row, middle.)
In addition to the research experience, Flowers says her favorite part of the Lipton Lab is the people.
“We’re a tight-knit group and I feel very supported. The graduate students challenge and teach me a lot. But have also created an environment where I can learn for myself as well. The biggest lesson I’ve been trying to learn is how to deal with failure, as that’s a big part of research, especially for organic synthetic chemistry. This year, both of my mentors are pushing me to be more independent in my research so I can start to develop the innovation and grit that I’ll need in graduate school.” -Maddie Flowers
Her advice to prospective undergraduate students is to select a university that will provide the best tools for tailoring an ideal college experience.
“I admit that I sometimes don’t know my own limits and put too much on my plate. My advice is don’t step up into more than one, or at most two, leadership positions and prioritize your mental health. There are so many ways that you can belong in all the communities you discover at Purdue,” she added.
After Purdue, Flowers plans to attend graduate school to pursue a PhD in chemistry.
“I’d like to have a career in R&D, ideally in an industry that helps people or their health, such as pharmaceuticals or food science. I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket quite yet however, as I’d like to have a summer internship to experience the industry first,” Flowers said.
Flowers performing in the band Supernatural Selection. (Photo credit: Gavin Trotter)