Alison Berlent

Alison Berlent (’13) , undergraduate
I have always been interested in biology, especially animals and their health. My passions have led me to a career in veterinary medicine, and I am currently applying to vet school in hopes of working with wildlife and exotics. My research in the Foster/Baker laboratory is an excellent way for me to approach animals and their health from an evolutionary perspective and it has even sparked an interest in veterinary research. I became involved in the lab in 2012, and will complete my first project over the summer and continue it throughout my senior year. Through the Traina Scholarship, Lise Ann and Leo E. Beavers Fellowship, and Steinbrecher Fellowship I am able to study the evolution of the threespine stickleback and their stress-response system. Using delayed oviposition as a stressor and cortisol concentration as a stress indicator, I am able to investigate effects of social environment on the evolution and life-histories of the stress-response system in three major ecotypes. This research will hopefully illustrate whether the ecotypes have been affected by evolutionary constraint and mismatch.

Outside of the laboratory you may find me volunteering at the Tufts Wildlife Hospital or working as a veterinary technician. I love to lounge outside with my dog and can’t get enough of Martha Stewart baking books.

Awards
Richard P. Traina Scholar, 2009-2013
Lise Anne and Leo E. Beavers, II Summer Research Fellowship, 2012
Steinbrecher Fellowship 2012

Send Alison an email at Aberlent@clarku.edu