As a sophomore, last summer, and throughout her junior year, Yael Fink ’27 worked in Professor of Biology Bruce Wightman’s lab. There, students use the model organism C. elegans, a microscopic worm, to study how genes regulate the differentiation between types of neurons.
Wightman’s research students meet regularly to discuss papers relevant to the field. Last year, they discussed one that came from Columbia University Professor of Biological Sciences Oliver Hobert’s lab, which also studies C. elegans. “I thought the research sounded incredibly interesting,” says Fink, a biology major and studio art minor.
Being able to lead my own research projects at Muhlenberg has allowed me to be more independent in the lab and be able to figure things out myself as opposed to needing to ask for help every step of the way.
This summer, Fink wanted to work in a larger lab with a hierarchy similar to what she would encounter in graduate school. She discovered the Cech Fellows Program, a nine-week summer research experience for undergraduates in a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) lab.
“I’d heard of HHMI before,” Fink says. “A lot of the best labs in the country are funded through HHMI.” The Hobert Lab is one of them.
Fink listed the Hobert Lab as her first choice on her application, was accepted, and was placed in her top choice. Her experience working with C. elegans in the Wightman Lab and everything she learned in Wightman’s genetics course this spring have enabled her to jump right into the research. She’s utilizing existing lab skills (preparing and working with the worms) and learning new ones (including CRISPR gene editing). The Cech Fellow program also provides a generous stipend, professional development opportunities, and a culminating symposium at HHMI’s research campus in Virginia.
“I would like to pursue a Ph.D., and doing research and taking science classes at Muhlenberg were really good steps. This is another step forward along that path,” Fink says. “Being able to lead my own research projects at Muhlenberg has allowed me to be more independent in the lab and be able to figure things out myself as opposed to needing to ask for help every step of the way.”
