Science Leader Anne Kearney '12 What she's doing now

Anne is currently a graduate teaching assistant in horticulture and research assistant on a consumer supported agriculture (CSA) program while pursuing a Master of Science degree in Viticulture and Enology at Colorado State University, then will do full-time viticulture research and harvest and enology internship at the university's Rams' Point Winery. Future plans include earning a Ph.D. or finding work in the field of viticulture.  

High School: Choate Rosemary Hall
Connecticut College: B.A., Biology, 2012

Internships

Summer 2011 - Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St., Louis, MO
Summer 2010 - Landscaping Aide at the Connecticut College Arboretum
Summer 2009 - Research in Professor Anne Bernhard's laboratory, studying the effects of different salinities, temperatures and pH on abundance of ammonia oxidizers

Academic Year Research
Professor Bernhard's molecular ecology lab for 4 semesters

Research Poster
"The Influence of Salinity on Ammonia Oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria." Anne Kearney, Courtney Dwyer, and Professor Anne Bernhard, Summer 2009

Conferences Attended
New England Estuarine Research Society Conference, Salem, Conn., Spring 2009

Research Interests
As a NSF research intern in the Danforth Plant Science Center's USDA-ARS lab, investigated by Dr. Ivan Baxter, in order to determine the traits for fast growth, high lipid content, and cheap nutrient media essential to a viable biofuel production strain, she is taking a quantitative genetics approach to identify loci important for these traits. She has determined the elemental composition by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), lipid composition by gas chromatography, and monitored growth rate by optical density of 136 Chlamydomonas mapping strains. Chlamydomonas green algae are considered a potential biofuel source, with their fast growth rate of 6 to 8 hours doubling time and their sexual cycle, reproducing both sexually and asexually, as well as their simple growth needs.

Future goals
Anne intends to apply to master's programs in sustainable agriculture, as she hopes to have her own farm someday.

Other interests
Anne is an applied music minor and plays the clarinet, and is principal clarinetist for three music ensembles. She also runs on the cross country team and bakes professionally. Anne was born profoundly deaf. She also enjoys yoga, hiking, kayaking and ballroom dancing.