What are you up to now?

Jen Levye

REU '09

Mentor: Missy Holbrook, Jim Wheeler

Project: Implications of Sectoral Variation in Red Oaks and Red Maples on Sap Flow Measurements (abstract)

Hometown: Sharon, MA

College and major: Harvard College, Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, class of '11

• What you miss most about the REU program: I miss the amazing people I met this summer. I miss being able to go on hikes through the woods after a day in the lab, and I miss my lab, with the awesome set-up we had going.
• What you miss least about the REU program: The mosquitoes. But more seriously, there were times when my job got kind of tedious - I won't miss the days spent in the basement soldering sensors, or sitting poring over spreadsheets for hours. It was still good experience though.
• What about the REU program has stuck with you: One, that I'm definitely going to go into a research based field where I can go out and do field research, rather than going to medical school. I think I'm more confident in my ability to ask research questions and interpret data, and I made amazing friends and will have wonderful memories of the summer.
• Have you stayed in touch with other REU students?: Absolutely! A group of us got coffee last weekend (and I'm dating someone I met at HF, so we're in touch rather a lot).
• Whether your REU experience supported or changed your career plans: Yes, changed them - I'm pretty certain I no longer want to go to med school but would rather pursue a PhD in Ecology or a similar field.
• What you're up to now: I'm in my junior year, right now trying to figure out what I'm doing next summer. I might be working in my REU mentor's lab at Harvard this year, and thinking about thesis plans. I might do my thesis based on research we started this summer, but even if I don't, I might be coming back to Harvard Forest for a couple of weeks to help out with Jim's project. Later, I don't know- probably grad school with some time off before that, either teaching or working in lab.