Andrew Hellman
Year in School
Sophomore
Major Degree Program / Department
Computer Science & Math
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Prasad Calyam
How did you get started in research?
“I knew going into college that I wanted to participate in Undergraduate Research. During Welcome Week, I attended the Undergraduate Research Fair. Dr. Blockus gave me a few people to talk to, and even sent out some emails to get the conversation started, one of whom was Dr. Prasad Calyam. After meeting Dr. Calyam, getting to tour lab and seeing all the projects happening, I knew this is who I wanted to be my mentor. He was very kind to take me under his wing the first week of classes and help me find a project where I would fit perfectly.”
Anvitha Boosani
Aylin Kalabak
Year in School
Sophomore
Major Degree Program / Department
Biological Sciences
Carissa Bersche
Year in School
Junior
Major Degree Program / Department
Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Antje Heese
How did you get started in undergraduate research?
“I always knew I wanted to be involved in research, and that was a big reason that I came to Mizzou. The summer before entering my freshman year, I was looking at the Undergraduate Research page and I found FRIPS (Freshman Research In Plants) applications and I applied for that, and then throughout my first week at Mizzou I took several lab tours and went to a bunch of the Undergraduate Research events and got connected with other professors, and then I joined Dr. Heese’s lab through FRIPS.”
Connor Hall
Year in School
Senior
Major Degree Program / Department
Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Joseph Santin
How did you get started in undergraduate research?
“I took Genetics my second year of college, and I was in the discussion section talking with my TA, because he’s a cool guy, and he said that he knew a professor that was looking for undergraduate students to help out in his lab. I was interested, so I looked at some of his research and read some of his papers, and I thought it was absolutely fascinating so I just walked into his office one day when I knew he was available and brought about 3 pages worth of questions, and we just talked about his research for about 3 hours. He liked the passion that I brought and I loved his research so he offered me a position in the lab.”
Grace Raycraft
Jamie Baumann
Year in School
Senior
Major Degree Program / Department
Biological Sciences
Kameron Hahn
Year in School
Senior
Major Degree Program / Department
Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Laura Schulz
How can students get involved in undergraduate research?
“I would recommend that you attend workshops. We have plenty of workshops through the Office of Undergraduate Research, as well as the S.T.A.R. program. If you attend five of these workshops, you receive a S.T.A.R which verifies that you’re interested in joining a lab.”
Karan Kommu
Year in School
Senior
Major Degree Program / Department
Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Jaume Padilla
Why did you want to become an Ambassador?
“During my freshman and sophomore year, I joined two different labs. With that experience, I thought I would be able to better help other people join labs, and I wanted to let other students know that to switch to different labs if you haven’t found the right fit yet.”
Katherine Bailey
Year in School
Senior
Major Degree Program / Department
Biological Sciences