{"id":685,"date":"2024-03-04T17:25:50","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T17:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/?p=685"},"modified":"2024-03-05T15:48:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T15:48:59","slug":"wcsus-m-s-in-integrative-biological-diversity-program-leads-to-sweet-smell-of-success-for-katie-cunningham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/2024\/03\/04\/wcsus-m-s-in-integrative-biological-diversity-program-leads-to-sweet-smell-of-success-for-katie-cunningham\/","title":{"rendered":"WCSU\u2019s M.S. in Integrative Biological Diversity program leads to sweet smell of success for Katie Cunningham"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Katie

Katie Cunningham<\/p><\/div>\n

Danbury resident Katie Cunningham always hoped she\u2019d end up doing something related to science one day. A 2017 Danbury High School graduate, Cunningham said, \u201cI remember always being interested in science, even going to \u2018super science camp\u2019 during summers as a kid. I grew up on Candlewood Lake, which definitely solidified my interest in nature. I also remember bringing bugs into the house in mason jars all the time, and really freaking out my mom. This actually hasn\u2019t changed much \u2014 I have multiple tanks with aquatic snails at my parents\u2019 house right now that they\u2019re lovingly putting up with,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

After graduating from high school, Cunningham spread her wings and enrolled at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies & Sustainability.<\/p>\n

At Drexel, Cunningham studied marine epibionts, which she describes as \u201ckind of like parasites, but not really.\u201d She elaborated: \u201cI tend to put it this way because epibiosis is a symbiotic relationship, in which one organism uses another as a living habitat. It sounds a lot like predation, but the host animal isn\u2019t harmed, or even significantly affected by this. Epibionts usually lack mobility on their own, and can benefit hugely from utilizing the resources \u2014 nutrients, movement, etc. \u2014 of a more ecologically fit animal. Ultimately, they latch onto a bigger, stronger creature and remain there for life, protected and well-fed.\u201d Cunningham\u2019s undergraduate senior capstone project was focused on epibionts, so she says she\u2019s been \u201cobsessing about this for quite a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

When searching for a graduate program, Cunningham wanted to go somewhere that would allow her to continue to study marine epibiosis. \u201cI learned about marine epibionts while interning at the Academy of Natural Sciences as an undergraduate, but understood that it was a very niche and understudied field,\u201d she said. \u201cMost of the people I spoke to had no idea what epibiosis was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham said she applied to\u00a0Western Connecticut State University<\/a>\u00a0because it was in her hometown and familiar to her \u2014 only to learn that Professor of Biology Dr. Theodora Pinou, the coordinator of WCSU\u2019s\u00a0Master of Science in Integrative Biological Diversity<\/a>\u00a0degree program, studies epibionts on sea turtles. \u201cThat coincidence solidified my interest in WestConn, and it ended up being the only program I applied to. I lived in Philly for five years during my undergraduate studies and I didn\u2019t really see myself moving back to Danbury,\u201d Cunningham said, \u201cbut I eventually started to miss it. I\u2019m very happy to be back now!\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of WCSU\u2019s Integrative Biological Diversity master\u2019s program requires participation in a stewardship project. Cunningham\u2019s project involved epibiont copepods \u2014 tiny crustaceans that were found to be living on sharks in the Bahamas. These copepods are housed in the Yale Peabody Museum, where she took inventory and added their collection and host species data to the museum\u2019s online database. \u201cI spent a lot of time in the museum\u2019s Invertebrate Zoology lab, cataloguing an assortment of epibiotic copepods,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

In addition to her coursework and stewardship project, Cunningham also worked as a teaching assistant and substitute teacher. \u201cI became concerned that my recent work experience wasn\u2019t setting me up for the scientific career I desired, so I began to apply for lab-oriented jobs around Connecticut to get back on track with research work,\u201d she said. \u201cUltimately, I secured an interview with a contracting company working for Unilever in Trumbull, and was offered a position right before Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham now works full-time in the Dove formulation lab at Unilever. \u201cI\u2019m mostly testing bodywash formulas that are in development on a small scale before these products reach the factory level. It\u2019s quite a leap from the epibiont research I had been focused on, but I\u2019m really enjoying it. Plus, there\u2019s a huge benefit: this makes me smell amazing by the time I leave work every day,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Cunningham will complete her master\u2019s degree in May and will reevaluate her career options then. \u201cFor years I\u2019ve wanted to pursue field work, specifically in the marine sciences,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, I feel like I\u2019d be happy with any hands-on scientific area that allows me to see the product of my work. I certainly like what I\u2019m doing now for that very reason. I\u2019d still love to revisit epibionts at some point if the opportunity arose.\u201d For now, though, Cunningham can enjoy the sweet smell of success in her Unilever lab.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit\u00a0www.wcsu.edu\/biology-msbiodiversity\/<\/a>\u00a0or contact WCSU Communications and Marketing at\u00a0pr@wcsu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Danbury resident Katie Cunningham always hoped she\u2019d end up doing something related to science one day. A 2017 Danbury High School graduate, Cunningham said, \u201cI remember always being interested in science, even going to \u2018super science camp\u2019 during summers as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,12,6],"class_list":["post-685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-biological-diversity","tag-biology","tag-success-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}