Back in late November of last year, Phillip Wages, a current senior, received the notification that he had received the prestigious Pfizer Undergraduate Student Travel Award. Only five students nationwide were selected.

“I’ve learned about this award two years ago as a minority graduate- this university doesn’t get as much money as others-so we got minority status for it,” Wages said. “So, I learned about it and was encouraged to apply. It’s a very competitive award. I initially knew I wanted to apply for it, but you have to have original research for it, so I’ve been working since junior year on it.”

Wages believes his competitive edge stemmed partly from doing research in a currently high-interest topic.

“The big thing is I’m using two pesticides that are very common. Atrazine’s used on every farm. After a while it was found to be safe, so a lot of studies have been dropped, but I went along with it anyway,” Wages said.

Wages’ focus wasn’t on the chemicals’ affect on humans, so he directed his energy toward zebrafish.

“It may not sound that special, but there’s a ton of research done on them; it’s recent research too, which has been done in the last decade. They’re trying to get as much research on them as possible.”

Aside from applying from a “minority-status” school, Wages believes it was his decision of investigating common pesticides and its impact on the environment-recently a very hot topic-that led to his success.

Wages goes on to explain the significance behind his research.

“The two compounds I used have the potential to have adverse effects. They prove to be safe to humans by the time they reach the markets; the compound has likely deteriorated by then, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Wages said. “But what I’m looking for is the environmental effects, such as runoff into waters. Does that affect the fish? That’s the reason I was targeting the pesticides.”

Through his research, Wages found the overall results quite meaningful.

“It definitely looks like Atrazine doesn’t have a particular effect. I don’t have any definitive things currently saying it, but it certainly seems Atrazine is a safe pesticide to use,” Wages said. “Permethrin, on the other hand, is very toxic to fish. It’s a controversial issue whenever you deal with pesticides because the balance of whether you should or not use it is based on how much money it uses and how much it saves, [and whether or not] farm production increases so much because of it; you also need to consider safety issues.”

In other words, there is much debate over the usage of certain pesticides and herbicides because banning a certain chemical might lead to heavy financial and production losses from farms.

In the beginning stages, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to research.

“I knew I wanted to do something in Toxicology. I didn’t really want to stray away from that,” Wages said. “I love the whole broad range of Toxicology topics; it encompasses everything. You could basically sell science in any way using Toxicology in a much more appealing way than, say, Genetics.”

In regards to his limitations, Wages knew his options came down to financial issues.

“Funding may not be the best at this school,” Wages said, “but it’s overshadowed by the fact that the teachers are amazing and actually know how to teach you well and teach you how to be a good student as well as a scientist.”

The idea to investigate the effects of common chemicals on zebrafish required some assistance from AU’s faculty.

“I was a late sophomore, trying to figure things out,” Wages said, referring to his desire to find a sufficient research topic to apply for the Pfizer Undergraduate Student Travel Award. He credits two professors in particular who helped him with preliminary research.

His adviser and professor, Dr. Posner, suggested the idea of using zebrafish.

“He sold it to me really well to use [zebrafish] as model organisms,” Wages said. “They’re fun and easy to use, and they have so many applications. Plus, there is so much research done on them.”

Wages’ other adviser, Dr. Trimble, helped him brainstorm which herbicides could be used for testing on the zebrafish.

“He [Trimble] convinced me to do possible research on them, given the feasibility and the capabilities Ashland had and the time I had.”

The guidance both Dr. Posner and Dr. Trimble provided gave Wages the boost he needed to put his undergrad research into fruition.

“Once I figured out my topic, I did all the research and experiments. That was exciting,” Wages said.

Reflecting on his success with his research, Wages expresses his newfound mission in the field of science.

“One of my goals is to make science a better field of communication. Using Toxicology as my outlet makes it more possible.” In the future, Wages hopes to take a part in helping the public better understand and become more aware of science-related topics.

Currently, Wages is barreling through his final year at AU and keeping himself busy with his long list of responsibilities as an active student.

“I basically live in the Student Center,” Wages said. “I’m the Student Conduct intern, so I’m in charge of scheduling all the conduct reports that happen on campus. It’s a very interesting job.”

But what Wages might be the most known for is his position as the Student Senate president.

“I’ve been on Student Senate for the past three years,” Wages said. “It’s a very enlightening experience. It’s a very different leadership than what I’ve had. Basically, you’re given the role of representing the entire student body.”

Wages admits that his position as Student Senate president is far from easy.

“It’s been a work in progress… it’s definitely a different mindset. But I love leading and love being in a leadership role. It’s been an honor being able to do this.”

Aside from bulking up his résumé, there are definitely some advantages to his position.

“You… learn to report things better,” Wages said. “And you get to meet a lot of people this way. I get to see a lot of different administrators that many students don’t get the chance to.”

In addition to this hefty responsibility, Wages is involved with various other activities. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, Beta Beta Beta (a biology honorary) and had been involved with the brass ensemble for the past three years.

“Sadly, I haven’t been able to be in brass ensemble this year…due to scheduling,” Wages said.

However, Wages is also an active member of the honors program and had initiated a peer mentoring program to improve an honors student’s experience.

“All the incoming freshmen are paired with honors upperclassmen to help incorporate them into understanding the honors program, as well as promoting communication,” Wages said.

“When I was a freshman, I knew no juniors or seniors, we never talked to them, and that was something we wanted to fix. I talked with the adviser, Dr. Swansen and the staff support help, Nancy Andres. Nancy dealt with the administrative side of it and I’ve done the communicating side of it.”

Being immersed with so many activities while still getting by with an impressive 3.9 GPA, one can’t help but wonder where Wages finds the time.

“It’s a challenge,” Wages said. “But I’m one of those people who needs to keep busy. If I ever have free time, I find myself creating a schedule. I need structure; like I set off times to do homework. It’s just my mindset. I have to have times to do certain things. It’s been, since freshman year, just trying to make that a better process.”

Essentially, it comes down to one’s ability to stay focused and work hard while still allowing leisure time.

“It’s challenging and it’s stressful, especially since last semester a lot of my friends didn’t get to see me, but it comes down to having a balance,” Wages said. “Although you have to structure your time, you need time to have fun or you’d go insane. You can’t just hide in a corner and do homework.”

The Student Senate president and Pfizer award recipient has one piece of advice for anyone aspiring for success.

“Know what you’re going to do and always take the opportunity to do new things,” Wages said. “I’ve taken the opportunity to do a lot of things and it has completely changed my mindset. I would have never [thought of going] to grad school, I seriously thought I’d be going into the workforce after high school. Through research, I’ve learned to love that part of science too. You just have to have an open mind and a set goal.”