My name is Renee, and I am a senior Biology and German Studies dual degree student working on a research project under the RichCo Labs’ Student Research Award Scholarship spanning the Karlstrom Lab and Timme-Laragy Lab at UMass Amherst.

My role as a Richo Fellow for the past two years has been to investigate the effects of PFAS, a class of anthropogenic pollutants nicknamed the “forever chemicals”, on development in embryonic and larval zebrafish. I have worked alongside my partner Claire and mentored students, including high school students in the UMass summer research program and an undergraduate student, who will carry on our work following graduation.

I have recently been awarded a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Scholarship as well as a Fulbright Fellowship to perform research at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig, Germany for the 2023 to 2024 cycle. In the lab of Prof.

Dr. Tamara Tal, I will continue my examination of PFAS effects on zebrafish neurodevelopment using behavioral assays, in order to achieve more accurate and efficient chemical regulation. Both of these prestigious scholarships could not have been attained without my experience from the Richo Labs position. I have gained skills in mentorship, laboratory competency, and innovation, expanding on this assay using proliferation in the zebrafish pancreas as a model for testing chemicals. In the future, I hope to attend medical school and further develop my investigation of pollutants on organismal development in a clinical setting. Thank you to Steve Richter and Tommy Goodrow for helping me achieve my academic goals.