HHMI Scholars At Denison

Joanne Vaughn

 Testimonial:

I was awarded the Howard Hughes Summer Scholar grant during my freshman and sophomore summers at Denison. As a psychology major participating in the neuroscience concentration, I was already aware that I wanted to continue on to attend graduate school in pursuit of a PhD in neuroscience. Therefore, the Hughes grant provided me with the research experience that I desperately needed to attain this goal. Both summers I worked in the laboratory of Dr. Cody Brooks, completing an independent behavioral study. This provided me with the opportunity to learn how to successfully design an experiment, the persistence and determination necessary to carry out the experiment, and how to analyze and write up the results in a coherent manner. I spent 8+ hours a day in the lab, including weekends, and I learned that this is what research is all about. You can’t just take a day off because you “feel like it,” the experiment calls for specific run times and you can’t vary from this schedule. The Hughes scholarship allowed me to discover and feed the passion I have for seeking answers to scientific questions. The research I completed during those summers was also a great jumping off point for future accomplishments such as presenting posters, publishing a paper on which I was a coauthor, and completing a senior research project.

I am now a graduate student in Florida State University’s Program in Neuroscience. Each year when we recruit new students for our program, I hear countless professors emphasize how crucial undergraduate research experience can be in the acceptance of a new student. Yes, GRE scores and GPA are important too, but I have discussed this topic with my PhD advisor, and he says that nothing can substitute for what one gains from participating in hands-on laboratory experiences. The Hughes grant is a means which allowed me to start out and develop as a researcher, and will ultimately play a role in my goal of becoming a successful neuroscientist.