Kimmy Leverenz, '13

Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan

Research—and mud—in Suriname

Majors: Biology; Economics and Management

Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management, Brown Honors Program, Institute for Premedical Professions and Health Sciences, Delta Gamma sorority, Student Senate, Admission Office tour guide

I went to Suriname last spring for biodiversity and conservation biology research through an Honors Program seminar. We collected samples of tiny creatures in waist-deep mud, slept in hammocks in the rain forest, and met many great people. I designed a project (with a partner) to dissect a variety of fish to see what they were eating, specifically if they were eating the creatures we were collecting from the mudflats. It was a great experience to design and actually carry out my own research project, a lesson that cannot be learned in the classroom or a laboratory setting. This was definitely a wonderful opportunity that I will never forget!