Prof. Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Investigating the Environmental Consequences of Human Activities
Janneke (pronounced Yawn·uh·kuh) Hille Ris Lambers grew up thinking about plants. She was born to a rice geneticist father and a horticulturist mother. Because rice isn’t grown in her native country, The Netherlands, Janneke’s father worked at international institutes in tropical countries. Thus, many of her formative years were spent in the Philippines, a tropical island nation with spectacular rainforests and coral reefs. More...
Behavior is an interesting component of life that many consider a human quality. But there are many types of behavior (e.g., sociality, cooperation, communication) in organisms at all levels of complexity, from unicellular microbes to Homo sapiens. How these different behaviors evolve is an intriguing question. As an undergraduate Ben Kerr took a sociobiology class that piqued his interest in this question and led, ultimately, to a career researching the conditions that drive the evolution of intricate behaviors in different organisms. 
Melanie Frazier, a recently graduated Biology Ph.D. student and ARCS Fellow, has always been interested in the natural world and how things work. A course at Arizona State University, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, sparked Mel’s curiosity in insect biology. Insects are a remarkably diverse and abundant group of organisms. They have numerous ways of eating, mating, and avoiding predators, and countless ecological roles. They are adapted to just about every environment on the planet. 
Mike Lakeman’s interest in biology was shaped by his childhood environment. He grew up on an orchard in New Zealand catching frogs and turning over tree stumps to look at bugs. But his interest in biology as a science began as an undergraduate at the University of Canterbury, where he got a job working for a couple of professors who were compiling a database of literature documenting natural marine products. While entering the data, Mike learned a lot about marine organisms. 
Nash Turley spent the past summer working at the Savannah River Site National Environmental Research Park in South Carolina. The Savannah River Site, or SRS, is home to a large-scale and long-term experiment on the efficacy of habitat corridors as thoroughfares for organisms moving between like landscape patches, especially remnant parcels of native habitat. Corridors have long been thought to help preserve and promote biodiversity in fragmented landscapes by providing a clear, navigable path for organisms and propagules such as seeds or pollen to move between patches. 
Four years ago when Jeannie Nguyen began her studies at the University of Washington, she began contemplating what activities she really enjoyed, namely science, working with children, and, above all, helping others. These combined interests inspired her to pursue a career in pediatric medicine. Currently Jeannie is a double major in neurobiology and biochemistry and a minor in chemistry with plans to graduate in Spring 2008. This past summer she applied for admission to MD/PhD programs at the UW, Johns Hopkins, and several other universities across the country, the next step in her pursuit. 
Emi Byrnes, Biology class of 2002, and Sheana Parry, Biology class of 2004, are Research Associates at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. The Allen Institute is a non-profit research institute in Seattle whose pioneering project, the Allen Brain Atlas, is a complete map of gene expression in the brain, a truly laudable feat that began in 2003. Emi got on board at the Allen Institute in 2004, Sheana in 2005. 
Biology Networking Night is an opportunity for current Biology students to meet with UW Biology, Botany, and Zoology alumni to learn about different careers Biology graduates might pursue. Five alumni form a panel of professionals that share their career building experiences since graduation. Panelists describe their current professions and steps to take to achieve career goals. 