Kim+our+TA

 First off, I just want to say that I am absolutely THRILLED to have the opportunity to be a part of this course, to work with our teacher Jim, and to get to know each of you! As you'll soon find out I am a huuuge bio nerd and will never hesitate to crack a bad science joke. (Please prepare yourself for these and maybe do me a favor by laughing if no one else does.) Biology and Boston are a few of my favorite things so as you can imagine I am indeed excited for our three weeks together doing both.
 * Hello I'm Kim Meyers the TA for this course! **

Massachusetts has always been my home. I love it here and cannot wait to be able show you guys some of my favorites places in the city. I graduated from Weston High School as member of the National Honor Society and the class of 2010. Science has been my favorite subject practically since kindergarten but it was in high school when I really decided that I wanted to commit my future studies to biology. I started by attending a summer research program similar to this one and taking as many bio classes as my curriculum would allow. In high school I received the book award for my studies in DNA Science/Biotechnology.

Currently I am a student at the College of William and Mary (located in Williamsburg, VA) where I am surprise, surprise, a bio-major. When not hunched over a textbook or geeking out over a cool lab at school you'll find me outside; I play club soccer, go hiking all the time, and I love mountain biking. One of the coolest trips I've been on was through a class I took at school last year. I learned about tropical coral reef environments and at the end of the course went to a small island called San Salvador in the Bahamas where I kept a field notebook and conducted research. Also at school, I am tutor for local middle school students through a mentoring organization I help run.

My life after college is unfortunately a lot sooner than I'd like to admit, as a rising senior I'm down to just one more year. What am I doing after graduation? Good question! //Hopefully//, I will be able to delay the onset of the real world by continuing to stay in school, more specifically, dental school. I want to be a dentist when I "grow up." But for now I'm just looking forward to being the TA and Counselor for BLI's Biological Research course.

ALSO, If anyone's interested, here is a paper I wrote on synthetic biology earlier this year for a course I took in molecular genetics. It's a review article on some of the ways that synthetic biology is aiding in the treatment of genetic disorders. Check it out if you want! (Warning, it's kinda long.)