April 12th, 2010
Dear Dr. Keller and CSU Honors Office,
I am writing to update you on my enrichment experience and thank you for your generous
Honors Enrichment Award of $250 which helped fund my trip to Honolulu, HI for Plant Biology 2009
(July 17th-22nd). Together with support from the Honors Program, McNair Program, and Women in
Natural Sciences (WINS), I was able to fully fund my trip to this memorable international meeting.
The research conference was a thrilling and worthwhile experience. I presented my poster titled
“Investigating Pollen Function in Arabidopsis lrx8 and lrx9 Double Mutants” at both the undergraduate
and general poster sessions. In both sessions I received invaluable feedback on how to improve my
methodology and better interpret my results. I had especially been struggling with a particular
technique, in vitro pollen germination, and was introduced to an undergraduate who was familiar with a
technician in his lab excelling in this area. Since then, his suggestions have considerably improved my
experimental design and the reliability of my data.
Members in attendance from the Bedinger lab included Dr. Pat Bedinger, 2008 REU student
Suzanne Brenimer, postdoctoral fellow Dr. Subbaiah Chalivendra, and I. We, plus researchers from
other CSU Department of Biology labs (postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kevin Morey from Dr. June Medford’s lab
and graduate student Silvana Porco from Dr. Dan Bush’s lab) attended numerous talks and minisymposia
as well as just plain fun events – dinners, dances, hiking, swimming, and shopping. Needless to say the
ocean and beach were breathtaking, and Honolulu was overall a remarkably relaxed and welcoming city.
As exhilarating as a Hawaiian scientific meeting was, however, the true insights and treasures I’ll
carry with me are the continued support and confidence for pursuing my professional dreams. I am
fortunate to have an exceedingly wonderful mentor, Dr. Bedinger. For three years of my undergraduate
career and an additional year since graduation, she has graciously advised and encouraged me in all the
ways that I could possibly hope for, and more. Post-graduation can be a rather scary time, but I
nonetheless felt grounded coming to lab and knowing I had someone who believed in me and saw the
best in what I was capable of (sometimes even when I doubted). She is truly a role model for me.
I am continually grateful for the support I have received from Dr. Bedinger and the Honors
Program. This support has further motivated me to put my best efforts forward and never quit aiming
for excellence. I am studying for the MCAT and applying to MD/PhD programs this summer (to begin fall
’11). In addition, I am applying to research positions including Johns Hopkins Post-Baccalaureate
Research Education Program (PREP) and NIH Post-Baccalaureate Intramural Research Training (IRTA)
Program. I firmly believe my undergraduate research experience and Plant Biology ’09 have greatly
enhanced my professional credentials and future prospects. Thank you sincerely for your generous
support. You are appreciated!!
Sincerely,
Ashley S. Denney