Josh Bruckner, Fifth Year Masters (’11)

I have been interested in environmental science for a long time. In high school I was always excited to learn about organisms interacting with one another and their environment. So when I came to Clark and found out about the Environmental and Conservation Biology major I knew it was the course of study for me to take. I first started working in the Foster/Baker lab in the beginning of my Sophomore year, and since then I have helped John Baker gather data concerning plasticity of egg size in stickleback populations.

In the summer of 2009, supported by a Beaver Research Fellowship, I helped other members of the lab with experiments on stickleback reaction to predators. I helped set up and perform a large number of tests on stickleback from different genetic backgrounds. The data have been analyzed and will be jointly presented during 2010’s Academic Spree Day. The Beaver Fellowship helped me to gain hands-on lab experience, both with designing and running long-term experiments. Hopefully I will soon be able to design my own experiments and apply everything I learned over the summer.

It is my long-term goal to be able to work on large-scale environment research. With an environmentally-conscious President in office, I hope that there will be many opportunities soon to work for the environment and the good of the planet.

Outside the Lab:
When not working on science or helping in the labs, I enjoy reading, writing and drawing. I am in the middle of several writing projects and I am illustrating a comic series my friends and I hope to publish. I love doing traditional art and exploring other mediums in which I can express myself. I have also participated in Clark Musical Theater’s shows.

Awards:
Lise Anne and Leo E. Beavers II Research Fellow, summer 2009