About

Melissa Haber ’12 has no problem getting her hands dirty. In fact, her research depends on it. Working with Laurie Caslake, associate professor and head of biology, Melissa is working on remediating soil using a chemical process that strengthens sandy soils and can help prevent some natural disasters, such as landslides and earthquakes.

Melissa received an Environmental Protection Agency–Greater Research Opportunity fellowship to continue her research. She hopes it will give her the skills she needs to pursue an environmentally focused Ph.D. degree in microbiology or soil science and provide insight into possible careers in the field.

Outside the lab, Melissa has found other ways to carry on her passion for microbiology. One summer, she shadowed a graduate student at Rockefeller University for two weeks, and this past May, she presented research at the National Meeting of the American Society of Microbiology in New Orleans. Melissa considers her experience at the event, the largest microbiology conference in the United States, to be the highlight of her academic career.