I joined the Bentley lab as a junior in 2010. As an undergraduate researcher, I was in a program called the MARC Scholars (Minority Access to Research Careers). This is an amazing program that prepares undergraduates for Ph.D or combined M.D/Ph.D careers. I graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in integrative biology in 2011. Currently, I’m the lab technician, which means I do a little bit of everything to contribute to the lab running smoothly. Most exciting of all, I get to work on a couple of research projects. Most recently, I am working with George Bentley on a project investigating the effects of exogenous melatonin on melatonin receptor activity in Area X, a forebrain song control nucleus. I am also assisting Nicole Perfito in a project examining gene expression changes in the brain and peripheral tissues during ovarian follicle development in European Starlings and Great Tits.