Jacob Merle's Alumni Testimonial

When I entered Fredonia in 2008, like many students, I didn’t know what I wanted to do after college. I declared my major in Biology in 2009 and over the next several years my interest in research grew and was nurtured by my experiences at Fredonia. Small classroom sizes and passionate faculty facilitated open discussions and analysis of primary literature, which both answered questions and provoked more. It made learning a safe experience where I did not feel intimidated to ask questions.

My junior year, I received a summer research fellowship provided by the Holmberg Foundation which allowed me to stay in Fredonia and work on a research project in the lab of Dr. Scott Ferguson. The research performed at Fredonia is almost entirely moved forward by the undergrads and a lot of responsibility is placed on them. This provides hands-on experience allowing the students to perform experiments while encouraging them to think about problems as real scientists. My summer experience left me with a much clearer picture of what it means to work as a researcher and let me judge whether this might be what I wanted to do with my degree. It was an invaluable experience.

After graduating with my bachelor’s, I applied for a position as a graduate teaching assistant in the Biology department. This allowed me to obtain my master's, covered the cost of my tuition, and provided me with some teaching experience. I joined the Ferguson lab as an official member and began to work on my thesis. Much of my time was spent in the lab and this is where my real education happened. Being surrounded by others working on their own projects provided an amazing resource of knowledge. Some of my best teachers were the other students and senior lab members. Eventually I found myself in the position of “senior lab member” and I would often have people coming to ask me a broad range of questions; this reinforced concepts in a powerful way. This environment had provided me with an edge and I was well prepared when I decided to continue my education even further.

In 2014 I was accepted to Cornell University as a PhD candidate in the Genetics Genomics and Development program. This was made possible by the many opportunities that Fredonia provided me. There is a close community of people who care at this school. The head of my lab, Dr. Scott Ferguson has been one of the most influential people in my life. I’ve learned a lot and made many lifelong friends. I even met my fiancée while at Fredonia, and in February of 2015, we became proud parents to a beautiful baby boy. I love the school so much I even named my son Fredonia… okay, not really (his name is Harvey). My point is Fredonia has been great to me and it was an amazing place to spend 6 years of my life.

Jacob Merle
B.S. in Biology, Fredonia, Class of 2012
M.S. in Biology, Fredonia, Class of 2014
Ph.D. student, Genetics Genomics and Development, Cornell University