Everything ties together for Alex Edwards 23. A neuroscience major, Edwards says she has benefited from the interdisciplinary nature of Wellesleys academic program, which led her to areas she never would have explored otherwise. She says she messed around with classes during her first semester and took advantage of shadow grading by enrolling in courses in archaeology and sociology (which eventually became her minor).
Just being able to explore so widely has been so fascinating, so empowering, and so valuable in facilitating an interdisciplinary education, says Edwards. She loves how her courses have built on one another: I can see the ties between every single class Ive taken.
Edwards, who is from the Bay Area, took a class at UC Berkeley in high school that sparked her interest in neuroscience. Before she applied to Wellesley, she reached out to Barbara Beltz, Allene Lummis Russell Professor of Neuroscience. After an initial video call, Edwards met with Beltz over lunch during her first visit to campus. That kind of professor-student interaction is what really drew Edwards to the College. She remarks that she was impressed by how much professors at Wellesley genuinely cared about students and their success and how much they wanted to help them achieve whatever their goals were. Now, Beltz is Edwards thesis advisor, research advisor, and major advisor, and Edwards has worked in Beltzs lab for three years.
Its incredibly valuable that Ive been able to have my first real lab experiences in spaces that are dominated by women and are so much more gender inclusive.
Alex Edwards 23
Edwards is also grateful for the opportunities that can kind of spring up out of nowhere. She landed an internship in a neuroscience research lab at theNational Institutes of Healthstudying fruit flies, in part because shed already studied fruit flies as part of her regular neuroscience coursework. Her rsums uncommon pairing of classwork and research stood out, thanks to Wellesleys distribution requirements.
Edwards also especially values the gender dynamics of working in a lab at Wellesley. To compete in her high school multivariable calculus class, in which only four out of 30 students were female, she felt she had to prove she had the brains, but at Wellesley, Edwards says, she has never felt that and its the best feeling in the world. Its incredibly valuable that Ive been able to have my first real lab experiences in spaces that are dominated by women and are so much more gender inclusive, she says.
Edwards has learned to not let fear of rejection hold her back from building relationships with her fellow students and professors. In her free time, she likes to challenge herself by climbing with the Babson Olin Wellesley climbing organization and playing sudoku. Though, for Edwards, professor-student relationships have defined her Wellesley experience. She appreciates that her professors have taken the time to get to know her and care about helping her balance her health, life, and academics while still pushing her to meet her goals.
In that vein, Beltz added Edwards name to one of her labs publications based on data Edwards gathered for her thesis project on neuron growth in adult crayfish. Edwards thesis will be the final paper published out of Beltzs lab; Beltz will retire at the end of the semester. After graduation, Edwards plans to move to Chicago to work as a research assistant in a lab at Northwestern University, researching the link between the immune system and Alzheimers disease.
Edwards is grateful for the freedom she has had to mix and match classes at Wellesley, which she says has expanded her understanding of every subject she has explored, from anthropology to religion to neuroendocrinology. She offers this advice to incoming Wellesley students: Take classes way outside of your interests, because you are going to love them. The professors here are so good. Theres no way youre not going to at least learn one super, super cool thing thats going to stick with you.
See the rest here:
Senior Snapshot, Alex Edwards '23: I Can See the Ties Between ... - Wellesley College
- Myosin Therapeutics Closes Second Seed Round to Advance Clinical Trials for Innovative Cancer and Neuroscience Therapies - PR Newswire - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Neuroscience Ph.D. programs adjust admissions in response to U.S. funding uncertainty - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- New tools help make neuroimaging accessible to more researchers - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Future Thinking Training Reduces Impulsivity - Neuroscience News - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Null and Noteworthy, relaunched: Probing a schizophrenia biomarker - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- How to communicate the value of curiosity-driven research - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Cognitive neuroscience approach to explore the impact of wind turbine noise on various mental functions - Nature.com - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Football on the Brain: Helping coaches embed neuroscience knowledge - Training Ground Guru - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Taking Control: Using Neuroscience to Build Better Lives - theLoop - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Creating a pipeline of talent to feed the growth of Neuroscience: Lessons from Ghana - Myjoyonline - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Exclusive: NIH appears to archive policy requiring female animals in studies - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Roll On Down The Highway 2025 Tour coming to Neuroscience Group Field - WeAreGreenBay.com - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- STEM organizations host Neuroscience Outreach Fair for local K-12 students - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Adapt or die: Safeguarding the future of diversity and inclusion funding in neuroscience - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- The last two-author neuroscience paper? - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Gate Neurosciences Strengthens Focus on the Synapse as a Therapeutic Target with Acquisition of Boost Neuroscience - Business Wire - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Why Firefly Neuroscience, Inc. (AIFF) Is Soaring This Year So Far - Yahoo Finance - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Breaking the barrier between theorists and experimentalists - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Preserving Brain Health and Advancing Neuroscience - University of Miami - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Science must step away from nationally managed infrastructure - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Repurposed Blood Pressure Drug May Treat ADHD - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- How to teach students about science funding - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Reflecting on 2024: Advancing Neuroscience Research to Improve Neurological Health - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Brains Hidden Circuitry for Risk and Reward Uncovered - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Why We Keep Exploring Even After Learning the Best Strategy - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Unlocking Cellular Youth: The Protein That Reverses Aging - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- This paper changed my Life: Bill Newsome reflects on a quadrilogy of classic visual perception studies - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and... - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Roundup: The false association between vaccines and autism - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Static pay, shrinking prospects fuel neuroscience postdoc decline - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Stimulating the brain with Damien Fair - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Unhealthy Diet Linked to Faster Biological Aging in Young Adults - Neuroscience News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Bob Smittcamp Family Neuroscience Institute coming to Fresno in 2026 - ABC30 News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Norton Neuroscience Institute selected to pilot national Brain Health Navigator program - Norton Healthcare - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Coding bonus: Bats hippocampal cells log spatial, social cues - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- ADHD and brainwaves: How neuroscience is changing the way we diagnose the condition - PsyPost - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- David Robbe challenges conventional notions of time and memory - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- How the Brain Processes Space and Time - Neuroscience News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Using neuroscience to help establish healthier habits | Opinion - South Bend Tribune - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Solvonis chairman on heavy-hitting M&A in neuroscience sector - ICYMI - Proactive Investors UK - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- New neuroscience research sheds light on distinct patterns of learning and generalization in autistic adults - PsyPost - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- Neuroscientists need to do better at explaining basic mental health research - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- How Severance shows the possibilities of cognitive neuroscience - Fast Company - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- AdventHealth Welcomes New Leadership In Heart and Vascular Services, Neuroscience and Orthopedics - Northwest Georgia News - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- School of Neuroscience and Language Sciences Program recognized with University Exemplary Department or Program Award - Virginia Tech - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- Early Exposure to Violent Media Linked to Teen Antisocial Behavior - Neuroscience News - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- The Real Cognitive Neuroscience Behind Severance - WIRED - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- The 15 most popular psychology and neuroscience studies in 2024 - PsyPost - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The 'lizard brain' lie: How neuroscience demolished the greatest mind myth - BBC Science Focus - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Revolutionizing Brain Diagnostics with Light and AI - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- How Early Experiences Shape Genes, Brain Health, and Resilience - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out political news - Indiana Capital Chronicle - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Lithium Restores Brain Function and Behavior in Autism - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Partners in Diversity presents the science of belonging: exploring the neuroscience of inclusion - Here is Oregon - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Classical vs. Operant Conditioning: The Brain's Memory Tug-of-War - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The Personality Gap Between Singles and the Partnered - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The Neuroscience Behind Vermeers Girl and Its Hypnotic Power - ZME Science - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Serotonin, GABA, and Dopamine Drive Hunger and Feeding - Neuroscience News - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics - The Conversation - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- UNO Goalie and Neuroscience Grad Shines in Her Athletic and Academic Aspirations - University of Nebraska Omaha - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- Neuroscience Major Seeks to Bridge the Generation Gap, Help Alzheimers Patients - Pomona College - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- Spectrum 2024: Year in review - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- Say what? The Transmitters top quotes of 2024 - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- Targeted or Broadcast? How the Brain Processes Visual Information - Neuroscience News - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- 70 Is the New 60: Age Related Declines Slowing in Older People - Neuroscience News - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- Breathing Rhythms During Sleep Strengthen Memory Consolidation - Neuroscience News - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- How our brains think: Exploring the world of neuroscience at the Yale Peabody Museum - Connecticut Public - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- Assembloids illuminate circuit-level changes linked to autism, neurodevelopment - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- Mapping the Brain's Response to Social Rejection - Neuroscience News - December 9th, 2024 [December 9th, 2024]
- An eye for science: Q&A with Bryan W. Jones - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - December 9th, 2024 [December 9th, 2024]
- Short Sleep and High Blood Pressure Linked to Brain Aging - Neuroscience News - December 9th, 2024 [December 9th, 2024]
- Neighborhood Disadvantage Linked to Cognitive Health Risks - Neuroscience News - December 9th, 2024 [December 9th, 2024]
- Psychosis Risk Tied to Heavy Cannabis Use and Genetic Factors - Neuroscience News - December 9th, 2024 [December 9th, 2024]
- Most Teens Recover From Long Covid Within Two Years - Neuroscience News - December 9th, 2024 [December 9th, 2024]
- Opportunities and challenges of single-cell and spatially resolved genomics methods for neuroscience discovery - Nature.com - December 9th, 2024 [December 9th, 2024]
- How Evolution Shaped the Brains Understanding of Numbers - Neuroscience News - December 9th, 2024 [December 9th, 2024]
- Neuroscience Study Aboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2 Reveals Cognitive Benefits of Slow Travel at Sea - PR Newswire - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]
- How Expectations Shape Our Gaze in a Changing World - Neuroscience News - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]
- To keep or not to keep: Neurophysiologys data dilemma - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]
- Does Alcohol Consumption Contribute to Hair Loss? - Neuroscience News - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]
- Brains Traffic Controllers Hold Key to Learning and Memory - Neuroscience News - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]