Yale Open Labs Science Café November 13th, 2016
Talks: Susan Knox, Holly Merta, Lydia Hoffstaetter
Location: Kroon Hall, Yale
Date: November 13th, 2016
Susan Knox, Ph.D. student in Chemistry, speaks about Understanding the Ingredients in Toothpaste. Susan is a first year Ph.D. student in the Chemistry Department at Yale University, with a focus in chemical biology. In 2016, she graduated from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) with a major in chemistry and a minor in biology. While at TCNJ, she founded TCNJ Connect, a program where undergraduates visit local high schools and present their research experiences. In 2014-15, she was selected as a NJ Governor’s STEM Scholar, for which she developed and conducted an experiment about lateralization in the trigeminal nerve while mentoring four high school students. At Yale, Susan participates in Open Labs, ManyMentors, and Yale Swing & Blues.
Holly Merta, Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, will discuss Microscopy as a window into a new world! Holly is a second year graduate student in Shirin Bahmanyar’s lab at Yale. She is originally from Houston, Texas, where she graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She enjoys cell photography (microscopy), cooking, taking her cat on walks, and discussing the ins and outs of education with her husband David, who is a middle school Spanish teacher. Holly hopes to one day become a professor and teach students of all ages about how cool cell biology is.
Lydia Hoffstaetter, Ph.D. student in Neuroscience, will talk about Hibernation. Lydia grew up in Ithaca, NY, and graduated from Cornell University in 2012 with a double major in biological sciences and in philosophy. During high school and college, she worked in several research labs during the summers to explore different areas of biology, which eventually lead to her interest in the nervous system. Now she is a 5th year graduate student at Yale University in the department of Neuroscience, studying hibernation and temperature sensation. Lydia loves to share science with students of all ages, and participates, with her lab, in other Pathways to science events, such as Brain Education Day and the summer Scholars program. To relax, she likes to dance, draw, and play piano.