From Turner, Maine, Monica Quimby graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2009 with a B.S. in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. She performed research on strawberry genetics from summer 2005 through May 2009, first in the UNH greenhouse and then in Dr. Davis’s laboratory. “I was interested in how [strawberry plants] worked beyond the physical characteristics for agricultural purposes,” she says. “It was a difficult road because some experiments had to be repeated, but I always learned something new.” Monica received funding from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) in 2009, and went on to present her research at the Northeast Undergraduate Research and Development Symposium at the University of New England and at UNH’s Undergraduate Research Conference. Currently, Monica teaches biology at Southern Maine Community College. “Undergraduate research opened more doors and enabled me to explore different avenues,” she says. “I now share my undergraduate research experiences when teaching in class.” Monica’s goal is to attend graduate school and become a biology professor.
Dr. Thomas M. Davis, Professor of Plant Biology/Genetics in the Department of Biological Sciences, has taught at the University of New Hampshire since 1984. In both teaching and research, he specializes in genetics, genomics, and evolution; his research focuses primarily on strawberries. As Monica’s academic advisor, Dr. Davis learned of her interest in plants and invited her to work for him first in the greenhouse. “She proved to be a productive and responsible assistant, taking care of genetically unique and highly valuable experimental populations of strawberry plants as part of my genomics research program,” he says. Dr. Davis has mentored numerous undergraduates, and says that Monica’s research was exciting “because she was helping to discover new knowledge that was of immediate significance to my research on genome evolution in strawberry.” As her mentor, Dr. Davis was very involved with Monica’s writing and revising work as she prepared proposals, presentations, final reports, and now her Inquiry article. “I gained the satisfaction of witnessing the personal and professional growth of a student engaged in real scientific research,” says Dr. Davis. “I also gained ongoing inspiration from Monica’s indomitable spirit.”
Read Monic Quimby’s research article From The Fields to the Molecules: An Investigation of Mitochondrial DNA Inheritance in Strawberries >>
