Julie's graduation

After a lot of very hard work, Julie graduated with her Masters Degree in Biology from Western Kentucky University. This happened last December, so a bit late on the posting. Her research was on hearing regeneration in zebrafish. She also worked as the lab manager for the Smith lab. She excelled in her research and greatly enjoyed interacting with the other students. She's here with her professor Michael Smith.

Julie was always very interested in brain function, particularly hearing - as she contemplated going back to school she considered whether she wanted to do further work in psychology. She hadn't taken many science classes before, but the ones she did take once we got to Kentucky she did exceptionally well in. She was also considering getting a degree in Audiology. The university had hired a new professor in the Biology department (Michael) who was specializing in neurology and hearing of fish. Julie approached him and got on doing some research. Later she agreed to pursue a masters degree. We later learned that Michael had attended BYU overlapping some of the time I was there. Julie isn't presently doing research in Biology - she's exploring art now. We still see Michael with some frequency - he's involved with the youth groups at church.

Julie's sisters - Sheila and Jennifer came to visit for the graduation. It was their first trip to Kentucky. There will be another post about their visit to Graceland.