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The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department recently held a poster session, during which students from Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore presented their research findings.

Among the participants was Abby Champlin ’25, from Colorado, who did research in the lab of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ashlee M. Plummer-Medeiros.

Champlin, who will be attending Oregon State University as a Ph.D. student in the Biochemistry and Biophysics Department starting this fall, credits Plummer-Medeiros and her overall experience at Bryn Mawr for giving her confidence and experience for such a challenging program.

“STEM is an environment that has historically been very male-dominated, and it's often really difficult to get your voice heard,” says Champlin. “Going to a historically women's college allowed me to be heard in those classes and have better relationships with professors.”

Champlin started shadowing a member of Plummer-Medeiros’ lab last spring and then started working in the lab as part of the Summer Science Research program.

“Dr. Plummer gave us a lot of support at the beginning in terms of figuring out what we were doing but then gave us a lot of flexibility and freedom. She's also frequently in the lab, a very supportive mentor. When it came to choosing grad schools, she’s the one who pushed me to add biophysics programs to my list.”

Megan McDonald ’25 also did research with Plummer-Medeiros and presented at the session. After graduation, McDonald is going to Montclair State University, where she’ll be enrolled in the master’s program for molecular biology.

“My Bryn Mawr research experience definitely has like set me apart from other students and has helped me feel more prepared for graduate school,” says McDonald. “Having the opportunity to work with Dr. Plummer and the classmates in my lab and to do presentations like this has helped me feel more confident and like more exposed to the research world.”

For Plummer-Medeiros, mentoring research students is one of the highlights of being a faculty member at Bryn Mawr, which is among the schools recently designated as a research college.

"I’m super fortunate to work with our students at BMC who are as passionate about our research work as I am," she says. "I tend to ask them a big broad research question then let them navigate the (often years-long) process of figuring out how to answer the original question. This often means supporting them through failed experiments and brainstorming on next steps together as a team. The perseverance they practice by working in my group is one of the most useful skills they’ll need in post-BMC STEM careers."

The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major is an interdepartmental major between the Biology and Chemistry Departments. It serves as a rigorous preparation for a career in biochemistry or biotechnology, graduate school in biochemistry or a related field, or enrollment in a health-related professional school.

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