In this post, we continue our 2018 series featuring Siler Lab undergraduates.  We here at the Siler Lab are proud of all our undergrads, especially those that have graduated and moved on with the skills they have learned while completing research in our department. Please also review graduating senior blogs from 2015, 2016, and 2017.

I began my journey at The University of Oklahoma transferring in as a junior from a small junior college. As one could expect moving to a large university from a small college  caused quite the shell shock. I knew that I wished to pursue a career in the medical field and so I decided a degree in biology could help prepare me for my future goals. It was my first semester at the university that I decided to take my Intro to Evolution course and was lucky enough to have Dr. Siler as my professor. I had heard horror stories about large universities and how, to professors, you are just a number in the class and not a name. This could not have been any farther from the truth. Dr. Siler brought an energy to the class room that I had not seen before and even though it was a 9 a.m. course, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I looked forward to waking up and attending his lectures. He was always very helpful whenever I needed assistance on a concept or information about an assignment. I knew that I had to take another course offered by him in the future. Around the end of the semester he announced that he would be teaching a Herpetology course in the spring. Now, I had only a vague knowledge of what herpetology was from when Dr. Siler would bring up concepts about it in our Evolution class. All I knew was that Dr. Siler was an amazing professor and I had to take another one of his classes. Thus, immediately after he announced this, I enrolled in the course.

Taking the herpetology class was when I found my love for all things herps. It was a small class that allowed for a lot of interaction between classmates, which led to great friendships. During the latter half of the semester Dr. Siler gave the class an opportunity to actually go out in the field with a few members of his team and do field work. They were weekend trips that involved camping so naturally, being an outdoors enthusiast, I signed up for both trips. The first trip was my first real hands on experience being a herper. Our class traveled down to Southeast Oklahoma to the Red Slough to capture specimens as well as acquire new eDNA samples. It was really during this trip that I found a new love for being chest deep waiting around ponds looking for turtles, frogs, and snakes. That trip will always hold a special place in my memory as being one of the greatest weekends for me while I was at the university. Unfortunately, however, we were not able to find any of Dr. Siler’s arch nemesis, the sneaky little sirens. It was during these trips that I became close with students and other members of Dr. Siler’s lab. I would spend much of my time hanging around and going on hunts with Kai. One day while I was studying in the lab Kai asked since I was here all the time why don’t I join Dr. Siler’s lab? I loved everyone that I had met in his lab so I thought this was a great idea!

I joined the lab November of my senior year. During this time, I met even more amazing graduate students such as Elyse Freitas, Sam Eliades, and Elyse Ellsworth who were always willing to help me on any project that I was doing. I was also able to create new friendships with Sierra Smith, Ethan Kelly, Austin Carriere, Lara Kedddissi, and Kenzie Hanna who were other students in the lab. During my time spent in the lab I did a wide array of jobs. From creating books for the citizen science program to preparing and setting specimens. I particularly enjoyed when I was able to spend time at the bench preparing samples for PCR and preparing chytrid swabs. All the skills I learned in the lab, from navigating documents in excel to dissecting a liver tissue sample, I know will only benefit me in my future.

All my time spent in the Siler Lab I learned a deal of things about a lot of different topics, but what will stick with me the most are the people. Everyone in this lab has touched my life in one way or another and I have no clue what I would have done without them. I would not trade my time in Dr. Siler’s lab for anything else. I can not thank the people who helped me, mentored me, and befriended me including all the names I listed previously. Above all I can not thank Jessa Waters and Cameron Siler enough for working with me, teaching me, and befriending me like they did. This lab is truly like a family to me and I will never forget the times I had on the third floor of the Sam Noble Museum.

Kasey is now taking the GRE and MCAT tests, to prepare himself for MD and PA applications. We wish him the best of luck!

To read more 2018 graduating seniors blog, start here.