It only takes a minute of conversing with Erin Paquette, Wright State University Biological Sciences student, before realizing that she knows a lot about animals and loves teaching others about them. "I like telling people about nature and all the cool things there are in the outdoors,” she explains in a recent . “My favorite animal is the Giant Ground Sloth. I just want to clone one and name it Timothy."
Erin Paquette graduated from the Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) in 2013 as part of the school’s first graduating class. After graduating she went to Wright State University, where she’s completed three internships and is set to graduate from the College of Science and Mathematics with a degree in Biological Sciences. Erin will graduate debt-free from WSU thanks to a scholarship she received from the Wright State Research Institute (WSRI).
Erin’s scholarship required her to complete three internships during her time at Wright State, a fact that she considers to be an amazing opportunity as opposed to a requirement. Currently she is seeking out a fourth internship and has applied to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery and Brukner Nature Center, the latter of which is currently considering her application.
“My first internship was in 2014 working at Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, where I helped with the Summer Adventure program by working at their day camp as a naturalist,” she recalls. While there, Erin had the opportunity to handle many different types of animals, some of which were less popular than others. She was the only one willing to handle the big snakes, like the Copperheads.... After her first experience she completed another internship with Biological Sciences professor Dr. John Stireman in the Entomology lab at Wright State University. There, she identified, sorted, and learned about bugs. She also helped with research, such as “trying to see if Tachnidae [a large family of what are known as ‘true flies’] lay their eggs on stink bugs, which typically result in the death of the stink bug."
Read the full article in the the Dayton Regional STEM School's News and Events blog.
