Melissa Clark named BLaST Scientist of the Month for April 2019
April 3, 2019
Melissa Clark is the BLaST scientist of the month for April 2019. Clark is a BLaST Scholar and a senior biological sciences major. She was recently accepted into and will be attending veterinary school at Colorado State University/ University of Alaska Fairbanks in the professional degree program where she will attend the first two years at UAF and the last two years at CSU. Clark is from Ninilchik, Alaska, a small Russian village on the Kenai Peninsula, and enjoys being active through aerial silks, skiing, hiking, lifting and horseback riding.
Research
Clark’s research experience started in the molecular immunology lab investigating the antigen processing pathways in the immune response. Her current research is focused in the molecular biology lab, exploring the prevalence of the zoonotic disease leptospirosis in Alaska caribou and reindeer herds. Clark has presented at several conference and research events, including URSA Research Day, the Midnight Sun Science Symposium, the University of Alaska biomedical research conference and the Canadian Society for Immunology conference. This summer she will head to Tahoe City, California, to attend the to Wildlife Disease Association conference. Clark’s research experience has helped her understand the overarching goals of the One Health paradigm.
Mentoring
As a BLaST Scholar, Clark has been mentored by research advising and mentoring professional Emily Sousa. While in the immunology lab, she was mentored by BLaST graduate mentoring research assistant Tynan Becker, and is now mentored by Cristina Hansen in the Veterinary Medicine Department, a past BLaST faculty pilot project awardee who is now a postdoctoral student. Clark has been a peer mentor in many ways, including serving as an Alaska Future Farmers of America state officer, where she mentored many high school students throughout the state in leadership skills. She also has volunteered as a UAF orientation leader, and is currently vice president of the Aurora Aerial Arts club. Clark understands the value of quality mentorship at various stages in life, and hopes to follow in her mentors’ footsteps.
“BLaST has supported me immensely through my undergraduate career. All of the support I have gotten through this program is the reason that I am where I am today," she said. "I can’t thank this program enough.”
You can download a flyer of Melissa Clark as scientist of the month here. For more information contact Amy Topkok at aktopkok@alaska.edu.
BLaST is supported by the National Institutes of Health with the linked awards TL4GM118992, RL5GM118990 and UL1GM118991. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Visit the UAF BLaST website to learn more about the program.