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Senior Macy Wiktorowski has earned an Undergraduate Research Scholarship from the Arts and Science Honors Committee at 911������ for her thesis “Evaluating Mite Abundance and Diversity on the 911������ Lima Campus.”

Wiktorowski will receive a $3,000 award for spring semester 2023. Her proposal was chosen from a group of submissions and indicates the committee’s confidence in her ability to complete a significant research project as a prelude to her post-graduate studies and career. Wiktorowski plans to attend graduate school to become a genetic counselor.

“It has been proposed that mites could be highly specialized. Meaning that most species of animal or plant have their own unique infecting mite,” Wiktorowski said. “Since little ecological or molecular data is available to support or refute this, I hope to shed some light on this question. Specifically, by evaluating mite diversity for insects inhabiting a single location.”

The thesis research comes out of Assistant Professor Robin Bagley’s research lab. Wiktorowski’s research scholarship will allow her the time and freedom to incorporate information from other researchers in addition to what she has gathered while she works on her thesis and prepares to graduate with research distinction in the spring.

“Scholarships like these can be truly transformative for our students. Being a student is pretty much a full-time job, but the reality is that many students do need to work at least part time on top of their responsibilities as a student,” Bagley said. “Getting a scholarship can relieve some of the financial stress, and free up time to dedicate to classes and other academic pursuits.”