Biology Major Jobs and Graduate School Acceptances 2019
Photo by Tony Moore
Max Lee
Major: environmental science, biology
Hometown: North Reading, Massachusetts
Employer: Northeast Processing
Job title: analytical chemist
Job Responsibilities
Analyze samples for chemical components, including pesticides, heavy metals, desired profile and water activity. Additional tasks include helping in the extraction process, analyzing data and interacting with local farmers.
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Exposure to applicable analytical chemistry techniques, education about time management and writing and experience in multiple research environments.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
Moving to a cool place and doing work that I am excited about doing. I am looking forward to having separation between my work and personal life, which is hard to accomplish here.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Natural history of vertebrates and wildlife ecology stick out to me as the classes that I have gotten the most out of: great professors and classmates and unique adventures that I would never have been able to undertake on my own. Outside of classes, I think working on the farm and living in the Treehouse have been very integral to my undergraduate experience.
Emily Rieder
Major: biochemistry & molecular biology, biology
Hometown: Collegeville, Pennsylvania
Graduate School: Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Field of study: medicine
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Dickinson has given me the opportunity to gain leadership experience in and out of the classroom. My professors have supported me and guided me in the right direction and that has greatly prepared me for the next step in my education.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am excited to begin medical school and start working toward my career goals.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Joining my sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, and serving on the executive board was one of the best experiences I had at Dickinson. Additionally, I enjoyed being a part of the golf team and forming friendships with not only other athletes at Dickinson but at all of the schools in our conference as well. In the classroom, I enjoyed all of the science classes and getting to know each of my professors, as well as many of my non-major classes that I took.
Madison Milaszewski
Majors: biochemistry & molecular biology, biology
Hometown: Rutland, Massachusetts
Employer: Genocea
Job title: research associate
Job Responsibilities
Work with Antigen Identification Team and focus on patient sample handling. Sorting, feeding, culturing, harvesting and screening cells.
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Dickinson has given me the lab skills and biology knowledge to succeed in my field.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am most anticipating the excitement of being on my own.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Some of the defining moments are my experiences in the leadership opportunities like the Emerging Leaders Retreat, Sophomore Leaders Retreat and the Senior Leadership Institute. Another defining experience has been making playoffs in my senior year with the softball team.
Internship Experience
Worked at Genocea in Cambridge, Mass., as a research intern studying T cells and the immune response.
Ilana Zeitzer
Major: biology
Hometown: Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
Graduate School: SUNY ESF
Field of study: ecology
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
I have background knowledge needed to enter a graduate program in ecology.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am excited to conduct more research at a higher level in a more specialized field of biology.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Conducting research with my professors for the first time junior year and designing my own research senior year. I also enjoyed labs that were in the field in my biology class and weekend field trips to the Smokies and Elk County.
Internship Experience
REU at Blandy Experimental Farm through the University of Virginia.
I designed, conducted, analyzed and presented a unique ecology research project.
Kate Mnuskin
Major: biology
Hometown: Blawnox, Pennsylvania
Employer: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health
Job title: intramural research training award postbaccalaureate fellow
Award: NIH Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award
Purpose of Award
I will be working in a research lab at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health studying DNA replication, repair and mutagenesis. I will be working as a postbac fellow with the research group studying translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of DNA mutagenesis.
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Dickinson has provided me with a well-rounded educational experience, where I was able to have meaningful relationships with my professors and develop my interests as a student. I have especially appreciated all of my science courses, as I believe the rigorous and academically challenging curriculum has really prepared me for my future. I have enjoyed having the ability to work closely with my professors and peers in an academically challenging, yet extremely supportive collaborative environment that nurtures student growth and development.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am really excited to be a part of a research group studying molecular genetic mechanisms. I look forward to collaborating with my fellow lab members and learning more about the subject as well as developing my scientific research skills. I also hope to converse with other NIH researchers and learn more about other ongoing research projects to develop my knowledge of the field and have a meaningful learning experience.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
One of the most defining moments of my Dickinson experience was my study abroad experience. I was able to study abroad during the fall semester of my junior year as a part of the Dickinson Science Program at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, U.K. This was such a meaningful experience because I had the chance to be a student in a different country, learn about a new culture and form friendships with many new people.
Internship Experience
I worked as an undergraduate research assistant over the summer after my sophomore year at Dickinson in a lab at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. I assisted on a project studying glycolysis upregulation in human epithelial ovarian and fallopian tube cancer cells.
Bakary Samasa
Major: biology
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Employer: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Job title: connectome annotator
Job Responsibilities
I will be responsible for identifying, annotating and analyzing neurons in a large digitized volume of serial electron microscopic images captured from an adult fly brain in order to assist in mapping out all of the neurons in the fly brain.
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
The experiences I had working in Professor Henson's lab were invaluable in teaching me the skills I need to be a lifelong scientist. Along with that, my experiences in all of my classes have taught me to think critically.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am anticipating using the skills and knowledge I have acquired to try to make a positive difference in the world.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
The defining moments of my experiences at Dickinson involve all of the amazing people I have met here. Throughout my four years I have met many talented, inspiring individuals who push me to be the best version of myself that I can.
Internship Experience
Research assistant for senior associate provost for academic affairs, Dickinson College. Duties included performing various experiments to elucidate the role various proteins play in cell division.
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Published April 5, 2019