A day in the life: Natalie Haase '27
We followed the chemical engineering junior, as she led a triathlon team workout, dove into quantum mechanics, and researched electrochemical methods for carbon capture.
Name: Natalie Haase
Major: Chemical Engineering
Hometown: Moab, UT
6:00 AM — Wake Up
6:30 AM — Tri Team Run Workout
Once a week, Natalie leads a morning run workout for the Triathlon Team. It’s her favorite way to start the day because she gets to connect with students across classes and majors and starts the day in motion.
8:00 AM — Breakfast, Planning & Work
Between morning workout and class, Natalie sets herself up for the day: a big breakfast, her dot-matrix notebook, and Excel. She writes down everything she needs to do, closes the notebook, and focuses fully on whatever task is in front of her—often psets, notes, research papers, or lab prep.
She usually walks to class with her roommate Megan, using the time to pre-brief the day ahead. The walk is beautiful, particularly in the spring going up Hillhouse Ave when everything is in bloom.
9:25 AM — Class 1: Physical Chemistry 2
This notoriously rigorous Chemical Engineering course demands full focus. The material is dense but fascinating, and Professor Vaccaro’s teaching connects theory, applications, and real examples. Much of the early semester centers on quantum mechanics—challenging, but exciting because of how directly it connects to research.
10:30 AM — Work at Steep Café
After P-Chem, Natalie often spends a couple hours working at Steep Café on Science Hill. It’s one of her favorite study spots: productive, social, and full of familiar faces.
12:30 PM — Lunch
She meets weekly with friends from general chemistry lab, which she took as an underclassmen. The tradition has stuck ever since.
2:30 PM — Research in the Kwabi Lab
Since January of her sophomore year, Natalie has worked in the Kwabi Lab researching electrochemical methods for carbon capture. It’s one of her favorite parts of the week because it blends hands-on experimentation with problem-solving. She credits the lab’s PhD students, postdocs, and PI not only for being exceptional researchers, but also for being generous mentors—always willing to explain difficult concepts, encourage questions, and support her applications and conference presentations. She is currently preparing to present at the Yale Undergraduate Research Conference.
3:30 PM — Work Time/Office Hours
Problem sets, office hours, deep focus—this is dedicated work time.
5:00 PM — Dinner
One of her favorite rituals is coming home and debriefing during dinner with her roommate and best friend, Megan, who is also an engineering student. Then, they break off to work.
6:00 PM — Work
8:00 PM — Club Triathlon Swim Practice
Swim practice always has great energy. There’s a huge overlap between engineers and triathletes—why exactly is unclear—perhaps a deeply ingrained need for high intensity structure and marginal gain.
9:30 PM — Sleep
More Details
Published Date
Apr 16, 2026
