G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.   For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

Working at Ohio State’s Museum of Biological Diversity has already begun to provide me with valuable experiences which will help further me in my career. My first assignment at the museum was to scan through old field notebooks which belonged to the late biologist, Carol B. Stein. In these notebooks, I searched for accounts in which Stein collected tetrapods for the museum. These, when matched with physical specimens, provide historical context and render the specimens useful for research. This assignment not only helped familiarize me with general museum practices, but it also exposed to Carol’s excellent field notes, which will surely serve as an inspiration.

Myself with a Great White Pelican

About Me

I am a First Year Evolution and Ecology major from Greenville, North Carolina. My primary academic interests include the evolution of Tetrapods (especially bird-line Archosaurs), trends in evolution, mass extinction events, and the current biodiversity crisis. I am currently employed in the Tetrapod collection at the Museum of Biological Diversity, where the ornithological collections are my primary concern.

A Semester In Reflection

As an incoming freshman, I felt fully confident in may choice of major, and fully comfortable with my course load. However, by the close of semester one, most have this has been revised. During my French history class, my old obsession with history was so thoroughly reignited that I was left questioning my chosen major. While I’ve had significant difficulty with my math and physical sciences classes, I have always found that the humanities come naturally to me. As of December 1st, I have declared a double major in history, to give me time to decide which field I would like to pursue at the graduate level. I still feel deeply passionate about natural history and would love to seek employment at a museum. My experience working in the Museum of Biological Diversity has been resoundingly positive and I will surely continue this next semester. Next semester I am also going to be taking two history classes about which I am very excited.