Megan Ahrns

29 April 2015

Re: Recommendation for Megan Ahrns

To whom it may concern,

I would like to provide support for Megan Ahrns for an AOU/COS travel award. She is in the top 5% of her class in terms of academics, maintains a 3.7 GPA, and has won the Outstanding Biology Student Award at The Ohio State University at Lima.  I have known her since August 2012, when enrolled in BIO 1113, an introductory biology course.  She received the second highest score in a class of 63 students.  Because I teach both lecture and laboratory sections of that course, I became quite familiar with her both academically and personally.  I then invited her to conduct a summer research project. She did all the field work and wrote an undergraduate research thesis as part of the requirements of graduating ‘with research distinction’.  It has been a pleasure to see her grow in her academic development.

Megan is a quiet student, but she excels academically and gets along with other students.  In BIO 1113 lab, she worked with a particularly challenging partner who often appeared disinterested.  However, she continued to show him what was being done and the results of the experiments.  She is also active outside the classroom.  Last semester, I was the Advisor of the Biology Club and regularly attended their meetings.  Megan also attended Biology Club meetings regularly and contributed to discussions, and is now the Vice President of the club. What I appreciate most is her attention to detail.  Her book essay for BIO 1113 outlined all the events mentioned in the book in chronological order – quite a feat considering that the book was not written in chronological order and many of the events occurred simultaneously.    

Megan completed all the tasks required efficiently and cheerfully.  She always had a smile handy, even when things were challenging.  In Fall 2014, she defended her undergraduate research thesis to complete the requirements to graduate 'with research distinction' designation.  As we have progressed, she has been able to open up about her research experiences to visiting students and other members of the public, and has been an ambassador for Ohio State at Lima. This will be her first experience presenting her research at a scientific venue outside of Ohio State University.  I am sure that it will be a remarkable and transformative experience for her, perhaps the highlight of her undergraduate career.

Megan is one of the top students in Biology at OSU-Lima and would be a good candidate for AOU/COS funding.  I know that should Megan be given a travel award, she will make good use of the research experience it helps provide. Please let me know if you need any additional information.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Augustine

Assistant Professor

augustine.63@osu.edu

419-995-8237