Alumni profile: Where are you now?

Brady Hardiman

Summer Research Program '03

Mentor: Julian Hadley

Project: Photosynthetic rates of Betula lenta: Effects on canopy carbon storage rates in a changing environment

College and major: Ashland, Ohio Biology/Chemistry-2003

• What you miss most about the Summer Research program: Hanging out with my REU cohort. They were a really fun and diverse group. I learned a lot from them and have enjoyed staying in touch. Also, the food was excellent.
• What you miss least about the program: Shared bathrooms and mosquitos.
• What about the program has stuck with you: The training in following a question through the scientific process from origination, through hypothesis formation, data collection, and interpretation has been particularly useful. Several technical skills, including operating a LICOR 6400 and a canopy lift, were put to good use while I was in grad school.
• Have you stayed in touch with other Summer Students? A few. I run into more at professional meetings and we always spend time catching up.
• Did your Summer Research experience support or change your school/career plans? I went to grad school to work on a project that ended up being very similar to the one I worked on while an REU at Harvard Forest.
• What are you up to now? Just finished up my dissertation at Ohio State University. I am working as a postdoc at Boston University and hope eventually to become a professor at a small/medium 4 year university.