October Undergraduate of the Month: Rebecca Faris

Congratulations to Rebecca Faris, Undergraduate of the Month for October! Rebecca's hard work, committment and dedication to her research work earned her this nomination which received unanimous support. Rebecca first joined the Casali Lab last summer as an undergraduate student. Coming from an arts background, Becca (as she is affectionately refered to) did not have the advantage of a science background as enjoyed by her fellow peers. However, her persistance, tenacity, excellent work ethics has placed her ahead of any undergraduate in the lab. Her hard work last summer and this year has put her in a different league from all the undergraduate students, often referred to as a third "tech" from her aptitude at lab work. Among the many techniques that Becca masters is plasmid purification, sequence analysis, cloning, and currently immunostaining. Asides from the many contributions she makes in the lab arena, Becca is a talented artist, a sculpture in particular. Her last work was a seven foot tall metallic and thread skinned sculpture of the X chromosome!! Talk about interdisciplinary! She is also an expert in Yoga, often giving lessons members of the lab. Asides from Becca's many talents, she is an wonderful person.

"I would like to applaud her on her positive attitude, and compassion for her coworkers, proving she goes above and beyond the duties of an undergraduate student. Never before have I seen a student so dedicated and hardworking." says lab manager, Jennifer Denomme, who has and continues to work very closely with Rebecca.

The Casali lab is lucky to have someone as professional, unique and upstanding as Rebecca Faris. It gives us great pleasure to offer her thee Undergraduate of the Month Award for October, frankly even this award will not do her justice.