What are you up to now?

Jonathan Mejia

REU '08

Mentor: Aaron Ellison

Project: Measuring Niche Overlap Between Spiders and the Northern Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) in Tom Swamp (abstract)

Hometown: NYC

College and major: University of Vermont, Biological Science, class of 2009

• What you miss most about the REU program: The people there were great and so was the house. It was seriously the best summer experience I ever had. But I have to say that what I miss most is the lab.
• What you miss least about the REU program: I miss the mosquitoes least. They were vicious and unfriendly.
• What about the REU program has stuck with you: The amount of work, I am traumatized. Joking of course. Seeing how the science was done has really stuck with me. And learning from my mentors was really an awesome experience.
• Have you stayed in touch with other REU'ers?: Me and my mentor correspond by email about the research we did (and are doing). I also saw some fellow REU '08s recently as they are applying to grad school here at UVM. I gave one of them excellent reviews to my advisors (who were interviewing him for PhD programs).
• Whether your REU experience supported or changed your career plans: No, the economy did.
• What you're up to now: High school teaching or stand-up comedy. Seriously, I applied for an internship with The Daily Show.