Rea Yoh, a junior at Brown University, has been busy finding innovative ways to complete her school work during quarantine. She has been taking upper level biology courses in molecular and cell biology and biochemistry. She is also taking courses outside of her usual area of study, such as Community Ecology. Since many of her classes are computation-based, Rea has learned how to use the “R” programming language. “It’s been challenging due to my lack of background in computer science, but having to complete projects for my classes has really given me a good understanding for what I can do,” Rea reports.
“My independent research encompasses my interests in musculoskeletal physiology, comparative morphology, and animals. I’m a member of Sharon Swartz’s lab, where I study bats. More specifically, I’m looking at how bats might serve as a pre-clinical model for human shoulder pathology. Current research in shoulder injury and treatment relies on mice and other quadrupeds as models, but these animals have very different morphologies and ranges of motion of the forelimb from humans. Bats, like humans, don’t use their forelimbs to bear weight, so they might be a better model,” Rea explains.
“I’ve been awarded an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award to conduct my research. In addition, I’ve taken on a side project that looks at how trimming whisker length in nectarivorous bats might affect how they hover around flowers. I’ve started this since campus transitioned to online learning, and I’m working with researchers from the American Museum of Natural History and a lab at Dartmouth to complete this. Despite all of the negative noise around bats right now, I’ve grown to really love them,” Rea exclaims!
Ballroom dancing is still a huge part of Rea’s life. “Juggling my duties as captain, teacher, and competitor is exhausting but rewarding. I’m a little devastated that the season was cut short because my partner and I placed well enough to move up to the gold division in multiple dances, and we had been busy crafting new routines. The other team board members and I have been looking for creative ways to keep team morale up, and we’ve organized online lessons and meetings,” Rea adds.
In addition, Rea has been remotely volunteering for the American Museum of Natural History, taking online courses in paleobiology, and catching up with books on her reading list.
Sounds like a productive semester. Keep up the great work, Rea!