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## Advisor Style & Mentorship
Dr. Kelson's Advisor Style is a Communicator. In order to do well as his Graduate Student in his research lab, ALWAYS communicate with him. Best methods of communication is DIRECTLY in person with him at his office. Second best mode of communication is calling & texting him through his phone number of which he will provide it to you (I recommend phone call more than texting since he's more direct that way).

Dr. Kelson's Mentorship works by he assigns you the project of the day, particularly a Chemical Synthesis Project. He gives the objective about why you are doing that Chemical Synthesis & what's the long term purpose. He is very articulate about it & very helpful too.

You do NOT need to fish out other research articles like how many other Graduate Advisors Professors do to their Graduate Students. With working for Dr. Kelson, you DIRECTLY do the project & will figure out what is the purpose of the project later on. If you are curious, you have every right to ask Dr. Kelson about the topic, he will gladly provide you either the articles to get a reading or a topic for you to search on your own to get some background about what you are doing. Again, this shows that Dr. Kelson's effectiveness is base on having good communication with him.
## Expectations for Graduate Students
Dr. Kelson expects you as his Graduate Student to arrive to meet him at his office first for a briefing of today's assignment. He will give you a printed protocol of what you will synthesize for the day & what is expected in the end. He also can even give potential risks of the experiment you will do for the day, which is helpful for gathering knowledge for your thesis. To do well in getting your Masters in Chemistry or Masters in Biochemistry Degree under the mentorship of Dr. Kelson, always meet Dr. Kelson in his office to have a research discussion with him. When you ran into trouble, always see Dr. Kelson either at his office in person or phone call him to address your concerns about your lab project. Dr. Kelson is very hands on, helpful, & very passionate about the projects he proposed.

DO NOT work solo on weekends. Dr. Kelson does not allow students come in to labs after hours on the evening or during weekend because he concern about safety since there are some dangerous chemicals in his lab. If you want to work additional hours, again, communicate with him and he will decide from there. But I can see he also very concern about the safety & well being of the students who work in his research laboratory.
## Funding & Support
Many of Dr. Kelson's research was funded by the National Institute of Health. Additionally, California State University, Northridge do participate in some funding, especially those PhD Prep Programs such as the Minority Access to Reserach Careers (aka. MARC) Program & Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (aka. RISE) Program do help support his research lab by providing him few undergraduate & graduate students with MARC & RISE support to work for him.

Best to enroll in any of those PhD Prep Programs such as MARC & RISE Programs in order to not get a 2nd job or work as a TA. MARC & RISE Programs do help you stay more focus in doing your research project.
## Research
Dr. Kelson's Research focused on the design of Assymmetric Polypyridine Ruthenium Catalysts, where these catalysts plays an important role in many Pharmaceutical Synthesis (particularly catalyzing the production of Enantioselective Alcohol Products from specific ketone starting materials).

I do not want to share more details about his research because I respect Dr. Kelson's desire of wanting to keep the details of his research confidential. So more details will be communicated with him if you are interested. But in superficial wise: his research is mostly chemical synthesis reactions and testing for the quality of the products produce from it using NMR and GCMS.
## Lab Culture
Minor issue: Dr. Kelson's Research Labs can be messy & disorganized. Be careful about where you place your final products after you synthesize them. Best to take notes on where you put stuff & you yourself must practice be organize.

The rest of the Lab Culture itself can be good if you communicate with other labmates around you. My experience was good, where me & my labmates did invite each other out with Dr. Kelson included for lunch or dinner at restaurants nearby the CSUN campus, which can be a good morale booster.

Additional Information: Dr. Kelson has a very interesting personality & he seems to be a people person. Most of the stories he likes to tell can be interesting to hear & establish a good social connection with. Additionally, there can be opportunities Dr. Kelson provide, particularly participating at conferences like the American Chemical Society to present your research work (preferably in poster form & MAYBE powerpoint form, but depends on Dr. Kelson); at conferences, you have opportunities to meet people, of which Dr. Kelson himself can also introduce, which can be useful for you career wise, such as you may meet good social connections who can be your future PhD Advisor if you are planning to enroll in a PhD Program, maybe someone Dr. Kelson introduce you at public conferences can help you fulfill your goals in enrolling to Medical School, or maybe even landing a job of your choice after you finish your Undergraduate or Masters Degree at CSUN under Dr. Kelson's mentorship.

To summarize: Based on my past experiences with Dr. Kelson as his student in his undergraduate research lab & later his graduate research lab for thesis advisor, I do recommend Dr. Kelson to be your mentor if you are doing a Masters Degree in Chemistry or Biochemistry at CSUN. Dr. Kelson is a very good communicator & very articulate in the purpose of your master's thesis research project if you are working for him. His lab although messy, can still be good for your experience in learning how to be organize & remember where to place your things when doing reactions. Finally, you may also have several opportunities such as meeting people at conferences based on Dr. Kelson's mentorship. To do well in his lab, ALWAYS communicate with him for he is open to communication. Best methods of communication is directly meet him at his office OR phone call him.

Yes, I recommend this PI.