A Short Biography

Let's see, where to begin? Why, at the beginning of course. (Well, maybe not the very beginning.)

Beginnings

Born in Madison, Ohio, I grew up in Ashtabula, OH. My older sister, Linda, was already in college at Hiram when I was born, and my brother, David, was in high school. Yep, I was the baby of the family (did I mention my two nephews, Michael and Gregory, by my half-brother, Harry, who are older than I am?). When I was young, I lost my older brother in a car-train accident, so I grew up a little over-protected, too. Anyhow, I will admit that being the youngest had lots of advantages (more toys, more time with with my parents, more travelling), but it had some disadvantages (multiple "mothers," a much older family, no sibling playmates). Grow up I did, and I went to high school at Edgewood Senior High School. While there I was in band (marching, symphonic, pep), science club (many thanks to Mrs. Bunnell for turning me on to science), Spanish club, yearbook, NHS and Spanish Honor Society--I tried to keep a little busy. During this time, I also became very involved at church (St. Peter's Episcopal Church), and I was trained as a peer facilitator for the Diocese of Ohio.

Choices

All these things were great, until it came to time to graduate and move on. After a bit of soul-searching, I decided to go to college and study chemical engineering. One of the biggest surprises in my life was being admitted to Caltech, and realizing that I would say goodbye to almost everyone I knew, I accepted.

I'll admit that it was an intimidating experience, but I have never met a bunch of people who worked so hard together (rather than competing). Shortly into my time there, I discovered that I was taken aback by the amount of work that went into a ChemE major, and besides, I had discovered the joys of modern biology (special thanks to Dr. Jean-Paul Revel for that). I started working with Dr. Mary Kennedy, and found that I very much enjoyed the molecular side of neurobiology. So, that's where I focused my energy, but I did keep my original love of chemistry going along the way. Tech was a challenge, probably one of the first in my life, but I wouldn't give up that time for just about anything, the people and the experience were priceless.

BUT--by the time I finished my degree, I was burnt out on science. So, it was time to step back and see what I wanted to do with my life. That summer I taught high school biology for Caltech's Summer Secondary School Science Project (SSSSP). The following year I worked as an administrative assistant in the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at Caltech. For me that was a lot of fun (I'm still not sure about whether it was for those around me); I met and worked with many interesting people (my faculty included Drs. Preston McAfee, Larry Rothenberg, and Peter Ordeshook). Given that, it was hard to go back to school, but I had already been accepted to the Biology graduate program at UCSD. Peer pressure ("all my friends were doing it'") finally won out, and I went to grad school. First though, I took a six-week vacation with my then-boyfriend, and we drove all around the continental US (maybe I will map this out sometime).

In some ways, grad school was a big disappointment, and I almost left. I didn't find the intellectual challenge that I had so much enjoyed as an undergrad, and that was disillusioning. I decided to tough it out, and I got a solid basis for my research in neurobiology under Dr. Darwin Berg. Meanwhile, not much was happening in other parts of my life. Well, that's not strictly true; I met some neat people and kept up some other friendships. I also went back to the church, becoming involved with St. David's Episcopal Church and the young adult ministries of the Diocese of San Diego.

After five years, my thesis defense was approaching, and it was time once again to decide "what do I want to be when I `grow up.'" This time I wanted to move towards developmental neurobiology, and after looking around at postdoctoral opportunities, I chose to move to the University of Pittsburgh and work with Dr. Eric Frank. Eric and I had poorly matched schedules, so I started my postdoctoral work here with Dr. John Horn. After two years in John's lab, I moved to Eric's and begun working on the development of the nervous system in chick embryos. As luck would have it, the major hypothesis I was studying didn't pan out, so I have recently moved to another lab (another school, another state) and am currently collaborating with Dr. Joseph Margiotta on, you guessed it, nicotinic receptors in development.

Where Am I Now?

Well, the easy answer is "Toledo" Maybe the harder question is "What am I doing here?" Right now, I am still doing neurobiology as a research assistant professor at the Medical College of Ohio. I am involved in many things outside of the lab, although in Pittsburgh I was involved in several things outside of the lab: I sang with the Sewickley Choir Institute; I worked with the Pitt Volunteer Pool; I worshipped at Calvary Episcopal Church as well as attended the Taize services at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Beyond that, I am trying to move into my first home (a beautiful condo--you'll see the pictures here soon) and stay in touch with my family and friends.

Where next?

I honestly don't know. I like doing research, and I guess I am pretty good at it. I also enjoy teaching, so maybe I will end up doing academic science. Sometimes I doubt that, though. I realized a number of years ago (when I was TAing undergrad science courses), that a lot of people outside of science don't have an understanding or appreciation for what we do. Part of me would love to go and develop science curricula for elementary schools--hands-on kinds of things that will expose kids to the wonders of modern-day science and maybe take away the "ivory tower" and "that's too hard for me" image that people have of what we do.

What am I doing here?

In part, I am practicing for what I just mentioned. If I can pull off what I would like to do on this page, I will have a science resource that lay people might find useful. I haven't gotten as far as I would like on that end, but that's one of the things on which I will be concentrating. I once told someone that my ideal job would be that of "answer-man" or more correctly "answer-person." I like to look at problems from different angles and see what I can understand about them. I enjoy answering people's questions, because those questions in and of themselves force me to approach things a little bit differently.

Well, this is by no means either a complete or a traditional biography. If you want to see my scientific biography, check out my c.v. If you want to contact me, feel free to email me here.

Copyright © 1997, 1998
URL=http://www.oocities.org/~pcp/bio.html
(This page last updated on 05/15/04.)

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