Biology Department
My research this summer, which investigated the effects of thyroid hormone and stress hormone on the development of the thymus gland in Xenopus laevis tadpoles, provided me with an experience unlike any other.
Through this project, I not only explored endocrinology and the effects of hormones on the immune system and beyond, but also developed and refined laboratory techniques that will serve me well in my future as I pursue a career in biomedical research. Techniques such as cryosectioning, hormone treatments, immunohistochemistry (using anti-active caspase-3 and anti-phosphohistone H3 antibodies), and fluorescence microscopy became familiar to me as I completed this project largely independently. These are skills I would not have had the opportunity to learn in any of my coursework, and also would have been difficult to have time to refine during the regular school year.
In addition, the lab I was working in, in conjunction with three other labs conducting research this summer, met weekly to present “chalk-talk” presentations, methodology presentations, and final presentations to refine our ability to convey scientific information to groups of people.This interest led me to apply for a St. Lawrence University Research Fellowship, where I am now conducting a research project on the effects of thyroid and glucocorticoid stress hormones on thymus gland development during amphibian metamorphosis. This experience has helped me shape research skills, build curiosioty for points of future research, and has allowed me to collaborate with brilliant students and professors.
I look forward to the opportunity to present the findings of this study at the 2026 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, to be held in Portland, Oregon, in January of 2026.
I am filled with gratitude as I reflect on this experience. I would like to extend a special thank you to the biology faculty for entrusting me to work in their lab on this research, which they have been developing for years. I would also like to thank tremendously the SLU donors who make this program possible year after year.