Lake Forest College is pleased to announce the publication of the fifteenth edition of the journal Eukaryon. The 2019 online edition will be unveiled on the College’s website on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. A campus reception will celebrate the collaborative work of students and faculty at the College. Assistant Professor of Chemistry William Conrad will present a public “Emergence in Life and Science,” following a campus-wide reception.

About Eukaryon

Eukaryon is an award-winning undergraduate research journal at Lake Forest College that publishes the very best of life science scholarship conducted by Lake Forest students. The journal’s goal is to celebrate and highlight the academic accomplishments of students achieved within the research-rich classrooms and student-centered research labs of Lake Forest College faculty. The word “Eukaryon” reflects the diversity of organisms with which the Department of Biology faculty are involved through their scholarship.

The students and faculty of the biology department at Lake Forest College founded this peer-reviewed annual online journal in 2004. The inaugural issue was published in January 2005 and featured 17 articles selected by biology faculty. In its inaugural issue, student work from a variety of biology courses (from First-Year Studies to advanced senior seminars and senior theses) was represented. Authors included freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and in one case, a graduate, who returned to audit a course. Diverse categories of articles were published, from research reviews and primary articles, to Nature-styled News and Views and senior theses. These categories reflected the breadth and depth of scientific writing required of a life sciences student at the College.

An editorial board comprised solely of Lake Forest College students who selected articles through a peer-review process put forth the 2006 issue. In spring 2005, the biology faculty selected the student members of this board. This board not only reviewed articles, it also authored all editorial policies of the journal. The 2007 issue demonstrated a continuing expansion of the journal with the co-publication of print and online issues, an increase in selectivity, diversity, and number of accepted manuscripts, as well as an increase in editorial board size. In 2009, we created the features board to encourage the writing of high-quality articles about student engagement beyond the classroom. In 2015, new board positions were created to aid in the editorial process. As Eukaryon continues to grow, maintaining high scientific journalistic standards and capturing the interdisciplinary, truly life-science experience of the journal remains a goal of this 2018–2019 editorial board.

While reflecting on 14 years of academic and journalistic achievement, editor-in-chief Chisomo Mwale ’19 said, “Every year Eukaryon strives to produce a journal worthy of publication. Each year comes with its own challenges but we are able to pull through and evolve while remaining loyal to Eukaryon’s founding principles. This is all possible because of the collaboration and dedication the editorial board shows toward Eukaryon. We have made some improvements and hope to continue the hard work.”

“I’m very excited about the release of the 15th Eukaryon journal,” said Eukaryon advisor Ann Maine. “The Board has worked very hard and engaged a variety of students throughout the year. The theme, ‘emergent properties’ challenged and excited the students as a prism for examining science.”

About Inauguration speaker William Conrad:

William Conrad is an assistant professor of chemistry at Lake Forest College. He received his bachelor of arts in biology at Macalester College, another small liberal arts school. He went on to pursue a doctoral degree in pharmacology at the University of Washington, Seattle and then proceeded to conduct a postdoctoral fellowship in microbiology and immunology at the same institution. Conrad went on to pursue another fellowship at the University of Cambridge.

At Lake Forest College, Conrad teaches Molecular Biology and the Molecular Machines senior seminar. He is also continuing his postdoctoral research on campus with students and plans on taking on senior thesis students. His current research focus is on determining the underlying molecular mechanisms of mycobacterium tuberculosis infection using zebrafish.

Eukaryon is published by students at Lake Forest College, who are solely responsible for its content. The views expressed in Eukaryon do not necessarily reflect those of the College. Articles published within Eukaryon should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.