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 random mutations. Student teams study plants in PLU’s warm, sunny…
PLU’s new anatomy and physiology lab is the first in a series of science upgrades
When PLU science students returned to campus in fall 2022 they were in for a surprise. The previously outdated anatomy and physiology lab in the Rieke Science Center had been transformed into a cutting-edge learning facility, complete with best-of-its-kind educational technology, thanks to contributions from…
PLU’s culturally sustaining STEM program helped prepare Becca Anderson to be a dynamic teacher
PLU alumna Becca Anderson ‘19, ‘22 is in her first year teaching biology to ninth graders at Sammamish High School in Bellevue. Her classroom consists of a diverse population of students — something her recent completion of the Culturally Sustaining STEM Teacher Program at Pacific…
Music and Medicine: Elizabeth Larios ’21 returns to Namibia to research infections and teach marimba
Elizabeth Larios ’21 decided she was going to be a neurosurgeon in the fourth grade. That’s when her class took a field trip to a science museum and Larios saw an exhibit about the human brain. Returning home that day, she told her mom: “I’m…
PLU biology professor Amy Siegesmund receives national teaching award
Pacific Lutheran University Professor of Biology Amy Siegesmund is the recipient of 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…
City of Tacoma environmental scientist Tom Chontofalsky ‘03 loves asking questions
From an early age, Tom Chontofalsky ‘03 always thought he’d be a wildlife biologist. He’d pore over issues of National Geographic and One World magazines his dad purchased, studying photos and text of exotic animals. Chontofalsky is now an environmental scientist with the City of…
PLU awarded $15,000 from NSF for COVID-19 DEI Challenge
Pacific Lutheran University was named a winner in the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Taking Action: COVID-19 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Challenge. PLU received a $15,000 prize for its work in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM.…
Despite pandemic challenges, transfer student finds community at PLU
Monya-Dawn Wilson ’22 is a DJS Fellow and Rieke Scholar who came to PLU as a transfer student. Wilson is a Biology major, and dreams of becoming a pediatrician. “I’ve always liked science and learning,” said Wilson. “I like learning about the body, learning about…
Lute Powered: MultiCare Health System
MultiCare Health System is a not-for-profit health care organization that’s been caring for communities in Washington state since the founding of Tacoma’s first hospital in 1882. MultiCare has grown from a Tacoma-centric, hospital-based organization into the largest, not-for-profit, community-based, locally-owned health system in the state…
Q&A with Biology Major Brandon Nguyen ’21
Brandon Nguyen ’21 was born in Hawaii and moved to Washington with his family when he was a child and has lived in the Pacific Northwest ever since. Nguyen shares how he became interested in biology and why he chose PLU for his studies. 1.…
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