What are you up to now?

Jonathan Mejia
REU '08

Mentor: Aaron Ellison
Project: Measuring Niche Overlap Between Spiders and the Northern Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) in Tom Swamp (abstract)

Hometown: NYC

College and major: University of Vermont, Biological Science, class of 2009

What you miss most about the REU program:
The people there were great and so was the house. It was seriously the best summer experience I ever had. But I have to say that what I miss most is the lab.

What you miss least about the REU program:
I miss the mosquitoes least. They were vicious and unfriendly.

What about the REU program has stuck with you:
The amount of work, I am traumatized. Joking of course. Seeing how the science was done has really stuck with me. And learning from my mentors was really an awesome experience.

Have you stayed in touch with other REU'ers?:
Me and my mentor correspond by email about the research we did (and are doing). I also saw some fellow REU '08s recently as they are applying to grad school here at UVM. I gave one of them excellent reviews to my advisors (who were interviewing him for PhD programs).

Whether your REU experience supported or changed your career plans:
No, the economy did.

What you're up to now:
High school teaching or stand-up comedy. Seriously, I applied for an internship with The Daily Show.

What are you up to now?

Samantha Hilerio
REU '08 and '09

Mentors: Aaron Ellison, Clarisse Hart
Projects: Canopy Type Affects Habitat Preference in Web-Building and Hunting Spiders (abstract); The Presence of Spiders Reduces Ant Activity in Bogs (abstract)

Hometown: Barre, MA
College and major: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Aerospace Engineering, class of 2012

What you miss most about the REU program:
Doing my job in the woods, what better place is there?

What you miss least about the REU program:
Soil respiration- all be wary of the huge machine with the collar.

What about the REU program has stuck with you:
I learned a whole lot about the process of being in science--how to write a proposal and a powerpoint presentation, how to present your findings, how to even come up with a project, and how to follow through.

Have you stayed in touch with other REU'ers:
Oh yes, we still talk a lot about school and everything as the year has gone on.

Whether your REU experience supported or changed your career plans:
While I knew I wanted to be in science somehow, my REU experience definitely supported my thoughts and hopes of what science is all about: a thought, a discovery, and thinking of another question.

What you're up to now:
I'm in school as a sophomore, working on my BA, and perhaps Master's as well!