Academics

Alex Ayala
Caracas, Venezuela

“The opportunity to work in Dr DebBurman’s Parkinson’s Lab at Lake Forest College helped me discover my passion for research. This out-of-classroom experience gave me the chance to appreciate the scientific method and further my knowledge in cell biology, molecular genetics, and neuroscience. It opened the door to a new scientific world where I could gain hands on experience and exposure to the scientific community.  Learning science in the classroom is one thing, but actually conducting research gave me a whole new way of learning and thinking.”

Alexandra Charron
Calgary, AB Canada

“In the summer of 2007, I traveled to Ghana to volunteer in an orphanage/school in the small town of Kasoa. I lived with a Ghanaian family and spent my days teaching and caring for children of all ages at Christ Outreach Orphanage. I taught science to the junior-high level classes. The classrooms were dirt-floored with crooked desks and chickens roaming in and out. It was extremely challenging to teach a biology class with no resources and very little guidance as to what the curriculum was. However, I consider my time in Ghana one of the most rewarding experiences I have had thus far and look forward to returning in the future.”

Ray Choi
Centennial, Colorado

“During my junior year, I studied abroad in Paris, France where I interned at l'hôpital Bichat. Over the semester, I worked in various laboratories, including Biochemistry and Hematology.  One of my responsibilities was to maintain cell cultures for future diagnosis of orphan disease. The techniques I used were the one’s I had learned in Biology 221. It was an exciting moment when I applied what I learned at Lake Forest to the real world. I no longer saw Biology through my textbook eyes; instead, I saw how it influences our daily lives.”

Shaun Davis
Shoreview, Minnesota

“Biological research is my passion.  As a freshman, I heard about the Richter Scholar Program, and I knew I had to participate.  Working directly with Dr. Kirk to identify bacterial species was the best experience at Lake Forest College.  During this time, I learned how to set up my own experiments and how to interpret the results.  Instead of following a strict protocol (as is done in many classroom laboratories), my research protocol was different from day to day, and more often than now, the results provoked more questions, which strengthened my inquisitive nature.”

Elina Dilmukhametova
Vernon Hills, Illinois

Grace Dunford
Los Altos, California

"This summer I had an internship in the Neurology Unit at Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California. During this internship, I observed physical therapists who treat brain injury patients. I watched their progression and truly saw how the brain works to repair itself. Being surrounded with severe brain trauma victims and witnessing their remarkable rehabilitation and recovery allowed me to understand brain function in ways I had only read and studied. Connecting class material to the miracle of recovery from brain trauma was a life changing experience. I enthusiastically pursue my career as a physical therapist and guarding my interest in neuroscience."

Nicole Fields
Libertyville, Illinois

“I recently shadowed three Emergency Department physicians and one pulmonologist.  I was able to watch them interact with patients, nurses, and lab technicians; it was fascinating to see how much collaboration goes into determining one diagnosis.  While it is amazing to hear about cells and cell abnormalities in class, seeing cell lab results that lead to a diagnosis really exemplifies science in action.  Watching the four physicians help children, the elderly, and mentally ill patients showed me the diverse array of people who doctors are able to help and reaffirmed my desire to be a physician.”

Jeff Fox
Buffalo Grove, Illinois

“I interned at Rosalind Franklin University over the summer of 2008. While there, I learned the laboratory skills required to help them isolate and characterize membrane proteins. Their end-goal of eliminating Malaria disease vectors makes the work all the more intriguing. As a biology major I enjoyed the work so much I've gotten myself hired. Between the academic foundations established at LFC, and experience provided by the most qualified of mentors in the laboratory, I am now well prepared to begin a career in the biological sciences.”

Susan Hedrick
Geneva, Illinois

“The most intellectually strengthening out-of-class experience I had while at Lake Forest College was conducting research for Lake Forest Open Lands Association (LFOLA). Our conservation biology class adventured out into the ravines of Lake County and took inventory of reptiles and amphibians. The data we found went into LFOLA’s existing database and is currently being used to help form programs for habitat restoration and environmental education. This experience allowed me to gain a new insight into how conservation programs are constructed and put into effect.”

Brian Kinsman
Glen Ellyn, Illinois

“I lack a singular experience to define my growth as a biology student. In the study of life, I look phenomenologically at one aspect of our humanity - empathy. To feel for and help another person I find more satisfying than the process of lab work. My experiences with Habitat for Humanity, training as a nursing assistant, peer teaching with Professor Glassman, and even working at numerous restaurants all helped fortify this conviction  Still, to help you have to understand, and therein lay my interests in psychology and biology. The research involved in these disciplines is fascinating and can be rewarding if you dedicate yourself to it, but are best appreciated - by the researcher, clinician, and patient - for their ability to enrich the lives of others.”

Rebecca Krebs
Vernon Hills, Illinois

“I did not attend Lake Forest College for my whole college career; I transferred here my junior year to finish my degree in biology. It was within the first semester at this college that I had my first real biological experience. In Animal Behavior we were assigned a final project to study a specific behavior about animals; my partner and I chose to look at whether males or female turkeys portrayed foraging behaviors more. With constant observation, we were able to conclude that females forage more than males. Because of our great work, our project was entered into the Student Symposium. This added to my biological experience and caused my liking for the subject to greatly increase.” 

Stephanne Levin
Northbrook, Illinois

“During my junior year, I completed an internship working in a veterinary facility that provided emergency care for sick and injured animals. During my time there, I worked in the intensive care unit, where I helped care for the emergency patients as well as the inpatients staying in the hospital.  My biological training was essential to this experience because, among other things, it provided a background from which I could understand the various diseases and injuries that I encountered.  It was an amazing opportunity and will undoubtedly be extremely helpful as I continue to work towards a career in veterinary medicine.”

Randy McGregor
Orlando, Florida

“The first time that I realized I wanted to do something within the biology field was when I was a kid. I grew up in California with Indian and Hawaiian influences all around me, so nature was and still is a big part of my life. More distinctively, I was on a surfing trip with my uncle. In the late evening, after a long day of surfing, the tide dropped and tide pools were created. These tide pools grab my attention, I wanted to see every one and examine them all. One thing I realized was every one was different in its own special way. At that time I wanted to know why and how these formed, and more specifically why there were different animals in them. The surf trip was supposed to be a fun weekend away from my parents, which it was, but it turned out to be a life-changing trip. After my encounter with the tide pools I started to look at natural interactions in a different way from there on out.”

Max Meltser
Buffalo Grove, Illinois

“The most significant experience that I have had in biology was the summer I spent as a Richter scholar with Professor Kirk. Through my quest to locate a wayward gene in Aspergillus nidulans, I learned a great deal about Biology and the nature of research that could not be found in a normal classroom setting. Alongside useful skills, such as reading complex journal articles, the experience taught me to appreciate collaborative work, and handle the frustrations that can be found in any research project.  It gave me my start as a scientist, and made me a much better scholar.”

Jillian Olejnik
Rockford, Illinois

“I feel that my summer as a Richter Scholar was really the main influential event in my career as a biology major. Even though I’d already finished a year of biology classes, that summer I was working at a new level of critical thinking and because it was out of the classroom, it felt much more personal. I really learned how to read and evaluate primary articles, as well as how to design my own experiments. Since I want to work in animal behavior, this was also really the first time that I was able to experience my desired field.”

Samantha Pusateri
Elk Grove Village, Illinois

“Participating in the student symposium at Lake Forest College helped to strengthen my academic development in biology. For this event two classmates and I presented a small research project that we had been working on in the field of animal behavior during the previous semester. Preparing for and publicly presenting an original project gave me insight into how much time and patience goes into researching. This experience contributed to a personal and intellectual maturation. I felt that I had gained confidence and integrity from not only participated and doing the work, but also from having the honor of being invited to this event. This was very encouraging, and I am excited to build upon what I have learned and experienced from this event in the field of biology. I hope to exceed my own self-expectations.”

Quincy Roberts
Kingston, Jamaica

“Last semester I interned at Chicago Botanical Gardens,where I had the opportunity of examining the population genetics of Oenothera harringtonii. With the aid of my past three years experience in Lake Forest College biology labs, I was able to successfully perform PCR, DNA extraction, and DNA sequencing on this endemic species. I hope to use these skills in the future in order to attain a Master degree in clinical laboratory sciences.”

Alejandra Rodriguez
Highwood, Illinois

“To volunteer in the North Shore Health Clinic in Highland Park has been the most significant biology experience I have had so far. I started volunteering in the health clinic this past summer as a Clinical Nursing Assistant six hours per week.  My duties include recording the height, weight, temperature, and blood pressure of patients. Also, I assist nurses with EKGs, help doctors with translation (English-Spanish), and more. This experience has helped me mature intellectually because I can apply the concepts related to human health that I have learned in the biology classes to real life examples.”

Melissa Schramm
Gurnee, Illinois

“Summer research with Caleb Gordon was one of the most significant experiences I had to strengthen my academic development in my major. Not only did I enjoy the process of research in the field, bird banding with SWAMP, I took ownership of my education. During this time, I recognized my leadership ability and drive to learn. I conducted an independent project and headed up the group manuscript in the lab, which was submitted to a local journal. I enjoyed doing the research and took pride in my accomplishments when the summer came to an end. I have also taken ownership of my academic advancement through peer teaching in the Writing Center and for science classes.”

Laura Thilgen
Batavia, Illinois

“Doing a summer internship at the University of Chicago was the most significant experience in intellectually strengthening my academic development in biology at LFC.  I did this internship the summer before my junior year; it was in a genetics lab that was concerned with spermatogenesis and x-inactivation in Drosophila melanogaster (fruitflies).  I did extensive work with DNA extraction, PCR, and gel electrophoresis; many of these techniques I learned in the biology curriculum prior to my internship and after my work in the lab at U of C, I was better able to conduct these ‘procedures’ in the biology classes that followed my internship.”

Jennillee Wallace
Portland, Jamaica

“Over the summer I began volunteering at Highland Park Hospital in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. I was very excited to be able to have patient contact and to see the workings of the hospital as it allowed me to determine the path I really would like to take in the future. I am interested in pursuing a career in the field of Public Health and would like to enroll in a MD/MPH program in the future. The classes that I took in my major helped me to have a better understanding of the terminology that was used in that environment and the experience itself has given me new ways of looking at the material that I’m learning in my Biology classes.”

Julie Wang
Glen Ellyn, Illinois

“I worked as an intern for Dr. Bill Frost and Dr. Chris Brandon in Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science for a semester during my junior year.  The research involved manipulating tiny brains of a sea slug under the microscope.  It was my first time working with such small and fragile structures; I learned then that steady hands can be extremely important.  I also fully realized, for the first time, how difficult and tedious scientific research can be, and at the same time how exciting and fulfilling it can be when you have finally accomplished what you have struggled over.”

Alex Wenner
Vienna, Virginia

“I had the pleasure of assisting in dental surgery for one month in a public hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica. My time there solidified my choice in pursuing a dental career. Many people cringe at the idea of going to the dentist, but I enjoyed being able to wake up at 5:30am catch the public bus to Hospital Mexico. My day consisted of dental procedures such as wisdom teeth extraction, removing decaying flesh, and performing stitches. My experience helped prepare me for life as a dentist in ways that no biology class could and for that, I am grateful.”