Mary Brown, a senior here at Ashland University, is studying forensic biology with a minor in criminal justice. She began her college career at AU just three short years ago, and has been getting involved ever since. She works at the AU Recreational Center as a referee for intramural sports, and she is a leader for The Well, as well as an active member of Religious Life.

When it came to choosing a university, Brown wanted something not too far from home, which is Elyria, Ohio, about halfway between Cleveland and Sandusky.

She also wanted a school that would provide her with a superior education in her scientific field, and, surprisingly, that was Ashland.

The first thought that usually comes to mind when people think “Ashland” is an education degree. Low and behold Ashland currently offers its science students great opportunities to get hands-on experience here on campus.

Students who have never wandered into the Kettering Science building will be interested to learn that we offer students the chance to do research that could one day be published.

Brown is one of the students taking advantage of the opportunities here. With a year of school under her belt and confidence only held by students with true intelligence, she contacted one of her professors asking for more work.

“I approached one of my professors last year to see if I could do independent research with him,” Brown said, “just so that I could have a wider range or more experience in science.”

Brown began on a project called, “Alpha-A Up-Regulating Protein,” last fall.

The title would be enough to scare away any student not in a science related field, but Brown tried to explain it the best she could. Basically Brown is looking and analyzing how protein injected into zebra fish can affect the lens of the eye and the body length of the fish.

“I made the protein construct last semester, and this semester I’ve been starting injections,” Brown said. “The procedure consists of breeding the zebra fish and getting their eggs, and the goal for me is to get the eggs timed right where it’s in its one cell stage. Then I can do injections, and then they’re all at the same stage and their development is all consistent. Once you get the injections and the protein construct in the eggs, then you incubate them for a couple days. After three to four days, then you check the lens and body length development in the fish.”

The work that Brown and the people studying under Dr. Mason Posner, her professor, are doing is not only for practice and experience, but also to see the effects of protein on cataracts in the lens of the eye.

This is important because, if their research is successful, they will be able to see how protein affects the eyes of humans, which may one day lead to the cure of cataracts.

Unlike most students, Brown’s research will not end when the school year is complete. She will be living in Ashland all summer to continue her study.

After all of the research is complete on all ends, Dr. Posner will be composing a lab report write-up that will hopefully be published.

Brown is not only a great student, but a philanthropist at heart. Everything she does is for others and she is always trying to help in any way she can.

During spring break 2012, instead of going to a beach and partying, Brown and some of her friends involved with Religious Life took a missions trip out to Arizona.

The exciting aspect for her was that she had no idea where she was going until she got to the airport on the day of her departure. She was going with the sole purpose of helping people, no matter where it was.

After arriving at an Indian reservation in Black Mesa, Arizona, the students helped the members of a Navajo tribe with a variety of odd jobs.

The main goal in the trip was to show God to the people of the Navajo tribe in a way they had never experienced before, which was service.

For many of the students, this was the first time they had gone on a missions trip and the first time they had done service for a solid week for other people.

The reservation the students traveled to was so far away from civilization, “…that if we would have gotten hurt and had to go to the hospital the closest one would have been an hour and a half away,” said Brown.

The Navajo people of the reservation are living in poverty and since they are so tied to their traditions and homeland, they have a hard time getting themselves out of poverty.

That is what was so baffling to the students. With education and opportunities so readily available in America, why would you not want to leave and try to succeed? Brown said it was like being in a foreign country.

Her most memorable experience was not serving others but being served by others.

“My favorite part was probably the Navajo taco feast we had on our last night there. All the families that we helped came together and made us Navajo tacos, kind of like normal tacos but with flat bread. It was just really humbling to have people who have nothing want to serve us with food.”

After spring break, coming back to AU wasn’t an issue, but readjusting to how fast life moves in college was difficult.

“I would probably say the hardest thing to get adjusted to was the pace we live in here,” Brown said. “On the reservation, it’s very laid back and people aren’t running around from place to place but here it’s extremely different. I’ve tried to be more intentional about slowing down but it’s extremely difficult when that’s how our society lives.”

Brown plans to continue her research as long as it takes. Once she is finished she has no set plans for more research, but if the opportunity were presented she would take it.

This year she will be taking classes such as quantitative analysis and physics.

Although she is not positive of her future, Brown does know that she has a heart for serving.

She would love to become a general practitioner. Brown would also love to spend some time during or after medical school doing medical missions trips, helping others in the best way she knows how.

With a love for science and a passion for people, Brown has a bright future ahead of her.