As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, I took a heavy course-load of science classes as well as related labs, allowing me to delve into biology, chemistry, environmental science, mathematics, and physics. Soon, I discovered that I favored a path in biology over one in architecture. I took advantage of research opportunities at the college, and had the additional privilege of working at other institutions including the Shoals Marine Laboratory, Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

My first formal research experience was in the Ellerby lab at Wellesley College. It was unique in that it required transforming a vacant room in Wellesley’s Science Center into a functioning biomechanics laboratory. For three months, I worked with Professor David Ellerby taking for the first time a direct measurement of the swimming efficiency of an aquatic vertebrate, specifically the bluegill sunfish. By summer’s end, we had prepared two papers for publication, Efficiency of labriform swimming in the bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) and Mechanical and energetic factors underlying gait transitions in bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), both of which were recently published in the “Journal of Experimental Biology.” In addition, we created two posters outlining our research that were presented at the 2007 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference. I was awarded funding for this research from a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Grant through Wellesley College. This first research experience was pivotal to my pursuit of subsequent scientific research, as planning, initiating, pursuing, and presenting about that research was a rewarding learning experience.

After a year of researching in microbiology labs at both the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory and Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center, I found my niche! In a field where only 1% of the organisms speculated to exist have actually been cultured and examined in a laboratory setting, I am attracted to microbiology in particular, for the profound discoveries yet to be made. My senior year at Wellesley I conducted thesis research under the guidance of Professor Mary Allen regarding cyanobacterial cell dormancy and the response of cyanobacteria to antibiotic-induced stress. Not only did I learn additional laboratory and field techniques, but I also achieved a greater understanding of the broader applications of this research. Thiss summer, I presented the results of my thesis at the North Eastern Microbiologists: Physiology, Ecology, and Taxonomy conference.

My volunteer experiences through the Wellesley College Science Outreach Program have been equally rewarding. Having grown up as a child in inner-city Boston, I understand the value of educating students who might not receive a comprehensive education in the sciences. As an undergraduate, I organized and led scientific experiments with middle-school students at the Mission Hill Grammar School in Roxbury. These extracurricular experiences fueled my interest in educating people about science.

My undergraduate career instilled in me a strong desire to pursue microbiology at the graduate-level and beyond with energy, diligence, and dedication. In May I graduated from Wellesley College, and this fall I will begin my PhD at the California Institute of Technology. I hope that I will contribute significantly to the graduate program and to the scientific community at Caltech. Thanks to the advice and guidance of professors and researchers with whom I have worked, I also hope to make an indelible mark on the field of microbiology.