New York Times Spots Alumna

Alumna Celeste Warrell (Biochemistry, 2011) was a star student at IU South Bend winning several awards and engaging in undergraduate research.  She then earned a masters degree in biochemistry in 2013 from Michigan State University in the lab of Professor Rober Hausinger.  But the call to science could not compete with a higher calling that she heard and Warrell joined the Sisters of St. Francis (of Perpetual Adoration) right here in South Bend.  New York Times photographer, Damon Winter, caught her on film (third from the left) as she waited for a chance to see the Pope during his visit to Philadelphia.

NSF Fellowship Winners are Honored

On September 10, two alumni from our department were honored at a gala with three other students for winning the very prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Pictured third from the left is Ashley Tong [Compton] (Biochemistry, 2014) who won her award as a graduating senior at IU South Bend.  Ashley went straight to MIT to research proteins of the photosynthetic pathway of purple bacteria with Professor Gabriela Schlau-Cohen using ultrafast spectroscopy.  The day after the gala, Ashley gave a wonderful presentation on her work to the students of our department.

Third from the right is Bonnie Huge [Jaskowski] (Chemistry, 2010) who worked as a research assistant at the University of Notre Dame for a few years before starting her graduate work. Bonnie researches with Professor Norman Dovichi in Notre Dame's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry developing instrumentation.  Our department is extremely proud of Ashley and Bonnie and wish them great success in their research and studies.