Twenty-five students from 10 different undergraduate and community college programs have joined the Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)/ Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN) program.
Established in 2001, the BRIN program was created to expose students to serious biomedical research, build a statewide biomedical research infrastructure between undergraduate and graduate institutions and to strengthen undergraduate institution’s infrastructure and increase its capacity to conduct cutting-edge biomedical and behavioral research.
Today, you’ll meet Lynsey Crosby, one of the new BRIN scholars on campus.
Lynsey Crosby
Nebraska Wesleyan University junior
Biology major
Q. What should we know about Lynsey Crosby?
A. I am from Albion, Neb., and I am a biology major and chemistry minor at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Q. What or who influenced your interest in science?
A. Throughout high school I was always fascinated with biology, so the decision to major in biology was not difficult, nor one that I ever questioned. Once I began college I wasn’t sure what to do with a biology major — mainly because I wasn’t sure of the career options. I had shadowed at a hospital in high school and knew from that experience that a medical career was not for me. My biology professors at Nebraska Wesleyan University were the ones to open my eyes to a career in research, an option that I had never even thought about or considered.
Q. What is it about science that excites you?
A. What excites me about science, research in particular, is that every day there seems to be a puzzle to solve. One day an experiment will work and the next day it will not, and you as a researcher get to figure out why and how to fix the problem. Another aspect of science that excites me is the discovery of new things or ideas, which is ultimately what you are working towards every day as a researcher.
Q. Will you pursue a career in science? If so, what do you hope to accomplish?
A. I hope to obtain my Ph.D. in virology and become the principal investigator of a lab some day.
Q. Why is it important to have programs like BRIN?
A. Programs like BRIN are important because they provide students with the opportunity and funding for a research experience that they might not be able to obtain on their own.