Rachel Waller
senior
E-mail: rawx58@mizzou.edu
Home town
St. Louis, Mo.
Why Mizzou
Primarily, the Conley Scholars Program caught my attention. It allows high school students to gain pre-acceptance into the MU School of Medicine.
After I learned more about the University of Missouri, I was incredibly impressed by the fantastic opportunities available for undergraduate research. I chose to major in biochemistry because I didn’t want to major exclusively in either biology or chemistry, and I have been extremely happy with my decision.
The College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources has such astounding faculty, and my professors have really invested themselves in my personal success. In addition to having outstanding academics and research opportunities, Mizzou was also affordable and close to home.
Lab work and internships
- Discovery fellow and student lab assistant for Judy Wall, using Northern analysis to study the transcript of sulfur-reducing bacteria.
- Intern at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Mo., funded by the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU). Studied viral resistance and post-transcriptional gene silencing (RNA interference) in the crop cassava using the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana; worked under Claude Fauquet in the International Laboratory for Tropical Agricultural Biotechnology. Project Title: “The Role of Light and Temperature on Viral Infection in Nicotiana benthamiana.”
- Volunteer student lab assistant for George Stewart in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at MU. Assisted researchers in studying two bacterial pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus anthracis. Studied the bacteriocin-like secretions inhibiting Bacillus anthracis, the pathogen causing the disease anthrax.
- Volunteered more than 300 hours at La Clinica, a small, inner-city clinic providing health care to an underserved Hispanic population.
- Presented “The Role of Light and Temperature on Viral Infection in Nicotiana benthamiana” at the Donald Danforth 9th Annual Symposium for the 2008 Undergraduate Research Internship.
Techniques
- In George Stewart’s lab, I learned basic bacteriology and molecular biology techniques, such as DNA isolation, electrophoresis, growing bacterial cultures, PCR, bacterial transformations and such.
- At the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, I began working with RNA and viral pathogens.
- Now I am using the bacteriology techniques I learned in Dr. Stewart’s lab, along with the RNA experience I gained over the summer, to study the RNA transcript of sulfur-reducing bacteria in Dr. Judy Wall’s lab.
Faculty support
Students receive a faculty member as an adviser from day one. When I arrived for Summer Welcome before my freshman year began, Virginia Peterson spent an hour of her time creating my first-semester schedule with my dad and me. That level of attention and effort from faculty is continually evident. Inside the classroom, professors are enthusiastic, interesting and knowledgeable. However, they also genuinely care about the student outside of the classroom. My biochemistry professors have devoted much of their personal time to helping me apply for scholarships, research funding and internships, which I wouldn’t have been able to do without their help.
Favorite part of Mizzou biochemistry
The faculty! The professors devote so much of their time to developing personal relationships with their students. For example, Shari Freyermuth devotes her evenings to helping with the Biochemistry Club. Also, this fall at the CAFNR Family Weekend breakfast, biochemistry faculty, in addition to other CAFNR faculty and staff, attended the breakfast and bussed tables. My professors introduced themselves to my parents. Not only were my parents incredibly impressed, but we had a lot of fun chatting with my teachers over breakfast.
Graduate school plans
I would like to go to the MU School of Medicine and earn an MD and a PhD in a field related to medical microbiology and immunology.
Honors
- 2008 MU Honors College Freshman Scholarship
- Selected to participate in the 2008-09 Discovery Fellows Research Program; awarded the research funding jointly by the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources and the Honors College at the University of Missouri
- Conley Scholar: Preselected for University of Missouri Medical School Admission.
Organizations
- Member of the Missouri Science Academy
- Member of the St. Louis Academy of Science
- Pre-Medical Society – University of Missouri
- Biochemistry Club – University of Missouri
- Chemistry 1320 Class Council representative
Outside the lab
I like to read.