Biology and toxicology students earn University honors

With the academic year coming to an end it is time to congratulate our students who earned University honors recognitions this Spring.  Let's start with our three department honors:

Hannah presenting at the 2015
URCA symposium

Our outstanding senior this year is Toxicology major and Choose Ohio First scholar Hannah Baumann.  Hannah has done research here at AU with Drs. Doug Dawson and Jeff Weidenhamer, recently presenting her results at the annual URCA student research symposium.  Last summer she took part in a research internship at Ohio State University in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy identifying and isolating novel anti-cancer compounds.  Hannah will be starting a PhD program in chemistry at the University of Akron this June.

Isabella Steiner, a Biology major, Spanish minor, Choose Ohio First scholar, and member of the University Honors Program, was selected as our Department's outstanding junior.  Isabella plans to attend veterinary school and currently works in the kennel at Spring Meadow Veterinary Clinic.

Our outstanding sophomore is Biology and Math double major, and University Honors Program member Alyssa Predota.  Alyssa plans to pursue graduate work to become a physician assistant and has shadowed at Lakewood Hospital and and the Parma Veterans Affairs Hospital.  She is currently working as a State Tested Nursing Aid (STNA) at the Good Shepherd here in Ashland.

Mack presenting at URCA 2015

Congratulations as well to Biology major Mack Reece, who was selected as the University's Male Undergraduate Student of the Year.  Mack has conducted research for the past few years with Dr. Paul Hyman on bacteriophage, viruses that infect bacteria.  He has presented his work at meetings of the American Society of Microbiology, at Ashland's own URCA students research symposium, and recently at the American Medical Students Association (AMSA) Meeting in Washington, D.C..  Mack also lead the formation of an Ashland chapter of the AMSA.  He will be attending Case Western Reserve University's Applied Anatomy program this Fall with plans to pursue medical school afterwards.