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| Undergraduate Research Opportunities |
Two Scholars Find a Path in Science—
CAS Scholarships Help Them Follow It. |
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| Kristy Lawton |
Aspiring Neuroscientist
Like many freshmen, when Kristy Lawton first came to Eugene from her small hometown of Aurora, OR, she was impressed by the size and resources of the university and knew it would take some time to adjust. She found her academic niche quickly, however—a field that combined her interests in animals, biology and psychology—and last spring, she was singled out as one of the highest achieving undergraduate or graduate students in the sciences.
Now a senior in the biology department, Lawton received the 2005 Henry V. Howe Scholarship, which she believes will help her achieve her short and longer-term goals in science. Selected for her work on microscopic organisms and locomotory behavior in the Lockery Lab, Lawton hopes to attend graduate school to continue on her research path.
Neuroscience became her research focus after taking Introduction to Animal Behavior with biologist Shawn Lockery, she said. “[The class] was so interesting; it pretty much cemented my future.” Although you can’t see the animals that Lawton works with now, her results might have applications to other animal biology: “If you can understand the basics of how things work with simple organisms, you can apply that to more complex organisms.”
Research is not Lawton’s only passion, however. After completing her undergraduate degree, she hopes to travel to Japan through the Japanese Exchange Teacher (JET) program. For her, the adventure of teaching in a new culture would be an appealing foray before graduate school. But, no matter what she ends up doing, Lawton knows she wants to hold jobs that challenge her to continue learning.
“I enjoy learning a lot,” she says, “not just doing a job.”
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| Elliott Hinds |
Experimental Hindsights
Strong science programs and hands-on undergraduate research opportunities first attracted Elliott Hinds to the University of Oregon. Now a junior and newly-named Fugelsang scholar, Hinds notes how pleased he was when he found out that he didn’t have to wait for his upper division courses to get into the lab.
After an organic chemistry class in his freshman year, the professor, John Keana, asked Hinds what he wanted to do with his education and encouraged him toward the chemistry research bench. Now a research assistant for Dr. Michael Haley, Hinds says he’s exposed daily to the rigors of graduate-level research—sometimes “stressful, but worth it.”
Labs have provided Hinds with his most positive and productive learning environment at the UO. But then, he’s always liked testing his ideas and even built his own zip line as a child—an “experiment” which, he remembers, held a few unfortunate consequences for his little brother. “I didn’t know it was science when I was little,” Hinds says. “I was just figuring things out.”
In his undergraduate work, Hinds has continued to be fascinated with applied science, and has begun to consider an interdisciplinary degree in chemistry, math and physics, in part due to the influence of UO physicist Heiner Linke. From Linke, Hinds learned the fundamentals of turning heat into electricity, a science that could eventually make refrigeration less expensive. Yet, even more than the specific knowledge he’s gained, Hinds values how science has changed his way of thinking: “[Science] is learning that is fun but makes you work hard, too.”
Noted in particular for a strong work ethic, Hinds is a perfect example of the type of scholar that George and Susan Fugelsang hoped they could help with their scholarship. “How much you put into a class is how much you get out of it,” he says. “I don’t want my education to be a piece of paper at the end.” The mentors he’s worked with as an undergraduate have inspired Hinds to become a professor himself: “I really care about education, and it makes me want to give back.”
—KY
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1245 University of Oregon • Eugene, OR • 97403-1245
(541) 346.3950 • FAX (541) 346.3282 • alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu
Copyright © 2005 University of Oregon
Updated November 12, 2005
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