![Teranejah sits in a red chair with her daughter, Alanna, on her lap. Alanna is holding an open book, "Hair Love"](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2023/04/web-banner-teranejah-lucas-725x408.png)
Social work major and working mom Teranejah Lucas ’23 explores the politics and power of Black hair in her senior capstone
Teranejah Lucas, 28, is in her senior year and majoring in social work. She’s preparing to do great things—after already accomplishing significant wins—and wrapping up a fascinating capstone. “As a single parent, first-generation college student, I’m out here defying the odds,” she says. Lucas lives…
![PLU Associate Professor of Biology Neva Laurie-Berry (right, masked) works with two biology students in the Carol Sheffels Quigg Greenhouse. (Photos by Sy Bean/PLU)](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2023/03/web-banner-biology-plant-physiology-725x408.png)
Biology class participates in research project
Beautiful mutants: a PLU biology class harvests for the future About two years ago, PLU professor Neva Laurie-Berry partnered with a world-class plant research center. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Mo., sends Laurie-Berry’s BIOL 358 Plant Physiology class millet seeds with…
![One students holds a glass jar filled with moss and sticks. Another student pours water into the jar.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/12/ihon-biosphere-class_teamwork.jpeg)
International Honors Program builds a ‘Starship’
On day one of PLU Professor of Mathematics Daniel Heath’s Designing a Starship class, students have no idea what they have signed up for — and that’s exactly how Heath wants it. The course is part of PLU’s International Honors Program (IHON), which means it…
![Elizabeth Larios is pictured sitting at a lab table. She is wearing goggles and is using a water dropper to pour liquid into a beaker.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/11/elizabeth-larios-lab-600x408.jpeg)
PLU alum returns to Namibia to research infections and teach marimba
Biology major Elizabeth Larios ’21 was awarded a Fullbright scholarship for her work in Namibia. When she was in fourth grade, Larios wanted to be a neurosurgeon. That’s when her class took a field trip to a science museum and Larios saw an exhibit about…
![Five individuals stand together in front of a tree.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/11/web-ttf_plu_september-18_lowell-and-interns-web-725x408.png)
PLU interns combat climate change one tree at a time
A group of PLU students interning with the Tacoma Tree Foundation spent the summer increasing the number of trees in the city to reduce polluted stormwater runoff and heat during the summer months and improving the livelihoods of those who live in urban areas. The…
![Amy Siegesmund is seen speaking to two students in a lab space. She's wearing a white coat and goggles.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/09/amy-siegesmund-biology-featured-image-725x408.jpeg)
PLU Biology professor nationally recognized
Pacific Lutheran University Professor of Biology Amy Siegesmund received the American Society for Microbiology’s 2023 Carski Award for Undergraduate Teaching. The award recognizes a university educator for outstanding teaching of microbiology to undergraduate students. What I love about teaching microbiology is that I get to…
![Parker Simpson stands in front of a yellow PLU sign on the university campus. He is smiling at the camera in a dark suit.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/08/05698d43-3ab8-4934-b280-50eac800aa05-725x408.jpeg)
Summer Job Spotlight: Nursing
Parker Simpson ’24 is spending his summer working at an assisted living facility in his hometown of Spokane, Washington. He comes from a family of healthcare professionals and has always wanted to help people. We sat down with him to discuss his experience taking classes…
![Fiona Ashton-Knochel sticks a marker with an orange flag into the dirt in a desert field. She is wearing brown pants, black boots, long-sleeve white button up shirt and a blue hat.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/08/img_2501-e1661874812722-725x408.jpg)
Summer Internships: Environmental Studies
Fiona Ashton-Knochel ’24 is spending her summer on a bird refuge in Brigham City, Utah. The Environmental Studies major sat down with us to discuss her exciting internship and to offer suggestions for anyone looking to land their own internship working in conservation. Why did…
![Yaquelin Rarmirez stands in a lab holding dropper over a jar. She is wearing a white lab coat and safety goggles.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/05/yaquelin-ramirez-ferrer-4-18-22-043-725x408.jpg)
Yaquelin Ramirez’s ’22 passion for helping others leads to a future in healthcare
As a child, chemistry major Yaquelin Ramirez ’22 often went to work with her mother at a Federal Way nursing home. The time spent watching her mom help the residents sparked something inside of her — a desire to pursue a career where she helps…
![Cody Uehara smiles while standing in front of a stone fence overlooking a green valley.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/04/cody-uehara23-web-725x408.png)
Computer science major talks NASA internship, capstone project
Cody Uehara is a senior computer science major at Pacific Lutheran University. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, he came to PLU to play football, and eventually found his passion for computer science. We talked with Uehara about his experiences at PLU and the exciting things he…
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