Student Spotlight
Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin
Major: Biology
Minor: Animal Ecology
Why did you choose Iowa State University?
In high school I knew I wanted to go to a D1 college, but wanted to move out of state to push myself to meet all new people and live in a new environment. Iowa State was the best choice since I was close enough to home to be able to visit if needed, but far enough away to not depend on it. The ISU campus, faculty, amenities, and community was everything I wanted and more.
How did you become interested in your major (and minor)?
I pursued biology as a major because I loved learning about how natural processes and systems work. I found my interest in animal ecology (birds in specific) in my sophomore/junior year as I took more classes centering around ecology and conservation. The choose your own adventure style of course requirements for biology allowed me to take all sorts of classes until I found ones I thoroughly enjoyed.
What are your current goals following graduation?
I plan to attend graduate school to research avian ecology and toxicology. Right after graduation I have a seasonal Wildlife Monitoring Technician job lined up, and plan to get field experience with birds before I apply to graduate school.
Campus Involvement: I have participated in many clubs and organizations on campus, all of which have been an amazing way to get to know my peers and to be apart of the ISU community. As Vice President of Biological Sciences Club, I was able to learn a lot about research on campus, communicate with faculty, and be a part of a great community with those in biology related fields. My time as a Supplemental Instruction as a leader and mentor helped me develop my teaching skills and get comfortable leading presentations and speaking in front of large sums of people for exam reviews. Being a manager for the Women's Hockey Club, and participating in DubH Hip Hop club rounded out my experience at ISU. I am deeply grateful for the community each of these opportunities has provided me.
Research experiences: I have worked with two professors during my time at ISU. First, I worked with Charlie Loewen in his Aquatic Ecology Lab. Over the semesters, I have worked on a few projects, but recently I have been working on a project classifying cyanobacteria in stormwater ponds along a chloride gradient to determine the presence of toxigenic genera. I have used a fluid imaging microscopy machine (FlowCam) to run the samples, and its associated software(VisualSpreadsheets) to analyze and classify the images. I was able to present a poster on this work at the 2025 Honors Capstone Symposium along with the 2025 Life Sciences Research Symposium. Additionally, I will be attending a internationally recognized conference, Society for Freshwater Science, in Spokane, WA, in May 2026 to present a poster on my work for this project. I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Loewen for taking a chance on me and responding to my cold-email looking for research experience on campus. During the 2025-26 school year, I have also worked with Ryan Weaver in his Evolutionary Bioenergetics Lab looking at bird gene sequences on the MEGA software. This was originally a part of the Honors program, but I picked it up for a second semester as research for credit. I have deeply enjoyed working with Dr. Weaver on this project and have appreciated his guidance with computer softwares I had zero experience with. Participating in undergraduate research has helped me gain experience that will be helpful for graduate school and helped me realize that I love doing research.
Internships: In the summer of 2025, I had an internship with the UW-Madison Center for Limnology working as a field technician on their Cascade Project. During this amazing summer, I got to live in northern Wisconsin (near Boulder Junction) at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center doing field work on three lakes where we ran whole-lake manipulations in light availability and nutrient levels. Everyone on the Cascade team was incredible to work with and my summer of limnological research and Northwoods living was the best summer I've ever had. The Cascade project helped me grow as a person and a researcher by getting many hours in the field and lab running samples, identifying phytoplankton present in each lake, and connecting with the great outdoors. It was a non forgettable experience. I deeply encourage all undergraduates to participate in field-based internships to round out your education and experience.
Study Abroad: I took part in a Caribbean Marine Biology Study Abroad course venturing to Roatan, Honduras. During this experience, I met amazing people, got to SCUBA dive beautiful coral reefs, learn about coral ecosystems, and participate in an ongoing coral restoration project. The entire trip was incredible. It gave me insight into marine systems and allowed me to do my two favorite things: see wildlife and learn about it.
What are a few things you love about your major and department?
I love the community I have gotten to be a part of. Everyone I have met in the Biology department has been fantastic and it is evident that they all care about student success and love learning.
How would you fill in the blank for high school students interested in your field?
“You’re going to love studying the sciences at Iowa State because ….”
the community is top tier. There are so many resources available to undergraduates, and they are a blast to be apart of!
Do you have an example of how a professor or staff member has supported you at Iowa State?
My research lab professor, Charlie Loewen, has helped me grow as a researcher in millions of ways. Whether it was him helping me with coding in R, or showing the aquatic ecology lab course students how to use a secchi disk, Charlie was a great mentor, and I am so happy I was a part of his lab during undergrad.
Last comments:
My best advice for new students is... don't be afraid to meet people. Some of my closest friends as a senior were people I met as a freshman in my dorm hall. Find your people and stick with them!