Student Awards
Congratulations to these students for their achievements!Outstanding Graduating Senior: Amanda Moraska
The 2008 outstanding graduating senior in the Biology Department was Amanda Moraska of Menomonie, Wis. She was also the recipient of the same award for for the Department of Modern Languages and Literature.
Amanda is one of the highest achieving students the Biology Department has seen in the past several years and according to the Modern Languages Department, she has consistently demonstrated a breathtaking aptitude and enthusiasm for learning. She excelled academically, earning not only a degree in physiology but also in Spanish. She has a perfect record in her Spanish classes, and has successfully completed two independent studies (in Latin American Health Care and Argentina’s “Dirty War”). She has been active in the NMU Spanish Club, Latin Dance Club, and International Volunteer Student Organization. In addition to academic excellence she gave generously of her time, volunteering with the Medical Care Access Coalition, Marquette General Hospital and Baycliff Health Camp as well as numerous other organizations. In addition, Amanda was active in the Student Leader Fellowship Program and devoted time teaching Spanish to area first graders. She combined her interests in medicine and language by serving as a medical volunteer in rural Costa Rica in summer 2005. She also conducted laboratory research investigating the effectiveness of chemotherapy agents on human brain tumor cells, paving the way for future studies which may positively influence the prognosis of those diagnosed with brain tumors. Following graduation Amanda will be attending medical school.
Outstanding Graduate Student: Lara Esser
The 2008 outstanding graduate student in the Biology Department was Lara Esser from Goettingen, Germany. Lara completed her high school training in Germany, and then studied at the University of Hull, England, where she earned a bachelor’s in biology in 2005. She was awarded her master’s in biology from NMU last summer. Her thesis title was “The osmoregulatory abilities of freshwater crabs from Thailand (Potamidae and Parathelphusidae) and biogeographical implications.” Lara was a biology teaching assistant, won a Charles C. Spooner student research grant, an NMU biology development fund grant, and an Excellence in Education grant. Before starting her doctoral studies at Hong Kong University, where she is researching crab ecology, she worked at the National University of Singapore on an IUCN red-listing project aimed at a global assessment of freshwater crabs. Lara has also done crab research in England, Thailand and Singapore. Lara is enthusiastic about biology and good-natured even when under the pressure of teaching responsibilities, research demands and her own class work. She is generous with her time and unfailing in seeking new knowledge. Lara will make a great academician.
