KENNESAW, Ga. | Oct 14, 2024

Inspired by his two brothers who attended Kennesaw State University, biochemistry major Jacob Erasmus has wasted no time getting involved on campus.

Through KSU’s First-Year Scholars program, Erasmus found a laboratory and a research project within his first month on campus and parlayed that work into a summer internship at a nature-based ingredient company. Now he has continued his research and has shown no signs of slowing down as a Sophomore Scholar.

“It’s easy to get involved and make yourself known here at Kennesaw State,” he said. “The professors here are looking out for your success, and they welcomed me with open arms.”

Erasmus can trace his interest in scientific inquiry to his upbringing. He is the son of an engineer and a psychologist. Additionally, his brothers, Oliver and Thomas, both graduated from Kennesaw State. A former Birla Carbon Scholar, Oliver Erasmus studied chemistry and graduated in December 2021, while Thomas Erasmus studied engineering and graduated in May 2022.

All three brothers graduated from the Living Science Academy in Woodstock, but the Erasmus family planted scientific seeds early.

“Basically, we all love learning,” Jacob Erasmus said. “My dad and Thomas are both engineers and they were always tinkering with something, and Oliver would always get the cool experiments from school that involved fire. We lived on a farm, and I tended the chickens, so I thought I’d study biology, but biochemistry really resonated with me.”

Erasmus followed his brothers to Kennesaw State and attended student involvement events during Weeks of Welcome. He discovered the First-Year Scholars program, learning of a wide variety of research projects open to undergraduate researchers. He ultimately ended up in a project on peptide therapeutics, a field that uses short-chain amino acids called peptides to treat diseases and other medical conditions. Assistant professor of organic chemistry Carl Saint-Louis supervised the project.

“One of the things I liked about Dr. Saint-Louis was he made a ‘Breaking Bad’ reference in our interview, and that’s one of my favorite shows, so we connected right away,” Erasmus said. “The project itself sounded very hands-on from the start, so that was a big selling point, too.”

A Kennesaw State alumnus, Saint-Louis has taught at KSU since 2020 and has enthusiastically built his lab as a popular spot for undergraduate researchers. Saint-Louis has established a program to direct research and help students stay on their paths toward careers in the sciences.

“I firmly believe that the First-Year Scholars program at KSU is critical to the development of future scientists,” Saint-Louis said. “I created a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) course that provides first-year college students with hands-on experience conducting original research while also allowing faculty members at KSU to present their research and recruit students within their discipline.”

Seeking more opportunities to explore chemistry, Erasmus found a summer internship at Cumberland-based CP Kelco, a company that makes natural and organic ingredients for foods and home supplies. The company put Erasmus on the front lines of helping meet customer demands by using his chemistry skills to create better products alongside full-time scientists.

The summer experience offered confirmation of his life path and renewed his commitment to a career in chemistry in service of humankind. Now in the Sophomore Scholars program, Erasmus is working on synthesizing and characterizing novel dyes that can be used as multifunctional materials to detect changes in pressure, temperature, and in pH for therapeutic purposes.

Saint-Louis can envision Erasmus pursuing an advanced degree, but for now Erasmus is looking to expand his work in pharmaceutical chemistry—and becoming the latest scientist from his family.

“It's harder to get into this because it's a very specialized thing, but neurochemistry vastly interests me,” he said. “Pharmaceuticals are rapidly advancing and honestly, I like the idea of applying our rapidly advancing knowledge in chemistry to bettering the lives of humans.”

– Story by Dave Shelles

– Photo by Matt Yung

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.