My STEM internship for 2014-2015 is (drumroll, please)... evolutionary biology with Dr. Mark Miller! Dr. Miller is currently working on a research project called Next Generation Tools for Biology at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (he commutes to Albany each week). He develops software tools and infrastructure for biomedical applications. This internship is perfect for me, because I can build on the programming skills I learned last year but also explore the field of evolutionary biology.
I don't know yet what research problem we'll be working on-- right now, I'll just be learning the basics of creating phylogenetic trees with him. We'll start on a research project next semester. Last year, Peggy and Dr. Miller worked on a project with the San Diego Zoo to trace the origins of a disease affecting a species of birds there. It was really cool and I look forward to what I'll be doing!
Sounds awesome! I love that you can draw on last year's programming experience as part if this. I look forward to hearing about your next step.
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