Alumni profile: Where are you now?

Brynne Simmons

Summer Research Program '06

Mentor: Audrey Barker-Plotkin

Project: Where Seedlings and Saplings Prefer to Grow

College and major: Johnson C. Smith University,  majored in biology and minored in chemistry, 2007

• What you miss most about the Summer Research program: I miss going into the forest with Audrey and collecting data. I also miss the people I worked with and their mentors.
• What you miss least about the program: Living next to cows.
• What about the program has stuck with you: I enjoyed the research I did and how friendly the staff were. I was a picky eater and when the staff found out that I was not eating, they found a way to get me food that I would eat. I am greatly appreciative for that. Also, I learned a lot about Harvard Forest and have a new-found appreciation for ecology!
• Have you stayed in touch with other Summer students? I am friends on facebook with some of the people I met in the REU program, and my mentor.
• Did your Summer Research experience support or change your school/career plans? My experience changed my plans. I went into the program as a pre-med student and left wanting to do more in the ecological field. However, I ended up doing neither.
• What are you up to now? I am currently a masters level licensed social worker in PA. I work as a therapist and I work in the mental health field. I am considering returning to school to get my masters in an ecological field.