Eleanor Ellsworth

I am a senior undergraduate biology major at Rhodes College. My end goal is to get a PhD and become a research scientist. However, I presently lack long-term laboratory experience. Before I apply to graduate programs, I want to work as a research assistant or laboratory technician for one or two years so that I can gain more practical skills in a laboratory environment, better understand how research works at larger institutions (I hail from a small liberal arts college), and expand my professional network.

I am particularly interested in research areas related to insect-borne pathogens, parasitology, microbiology, and virology/immunology, but would be eager to learn any laboratory skills transferrable to these disciplines.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (Fall 2021 – Present)

Rhodes College, Memphis, TN

• Fall 2021, Fall 2025: Assisted Dr. Kelly Dougherty in neuroscience lab in research examining dorsal and ventral hippocampal structures of epileptic laboratory rats. Gained exposure to mounting, staining, and processing brain slices, HEK-293 cell culturing, and patch clamping.
• June 2022 – December 2022: Conducted research project under Dr. Sydney Moyo looking at the influence of vegetation on the occurrence of web-building spider species in the Memphis area within local parks. Gained experience in fieldwork techniques related to invertebrate sampling, and gained experience drafting, writing, and publishing a brief report in Insects as a first author.
• Fall 2023 – Spring 2024: Worked in the lab of Dr. Kelly Diamond sorting, labeling, and categorizing departmental teaching collection of vertebrate specimens.

Research Volunteer, Memphis Zoo Conservation Department (Spring 2023)

• Monitoring and data collection of a captive-bred population of critically endangered dusky gopher frogs (Lithobates sevosus) and their offspring
• Husbandry of captive gopher frog adults, tadpoles, and eggs.

• Accepted competitive undergraduate internship in Summer in Biomedical Sciences (SIBS) Undergraduate Research Program at Heersink School of Medicine.
• Under guidance of Dr. Angela Carter (PI) and Camila González-Arancibia (mentor) worked on project examining Fusobacteria nucleatum biofilm growth in amphetamine treatments. (Project funded through NIH grants R01 DA056484 [AG and AMC] and R21 DA059844 [AMC].)
• Learned to use anaerobic chambers, culture bacteria in broth, using Biotek plate reader, analyze RT-qPCR data, and gained experience writing and submitting abstracts.
• Gained top placement award for 3-MT presentation.

BS Biology | Rhodes College