Fischell Institute Intern Spotlight: Evelyn Jaskowiak

Evelyn Jaskowiak is a rising junior majoring in cellular biology and genetics. This summer, she is a Fischell Institute intern in Director Bill Bentley's Biomolecular and Metabolic Engineering Laboratory.

Jaskowiak has always been passionate about STEM and curious about genetics. During her high school biology class, she did a project on new advancing technology in genetics. Her group was assigned to study CRISPR. CRISPR is used to cut a specific DNA sequence which allows researchers to delete or insert DNA into the genome. Jaskowiak was intrigued by all the genetic possibilities and was inspired to pursue genetics as her major in college.

Thus far, Jaskowiak has enjoyed her internship experience and appreciates members of Bentley’s lab for explaining the engineering research process and different laboratory techniques.

"One of the topics that originally caught my attention was the synthetic genetics that the Bentley’s lab was working on," she said. "I was a little worried when I first applied since I wasn't an engineering student, but I was excited to learn more about the engineering side of research."

Currently, she is working on using redox reactions to facilitate gene expression. The lab group has looked at how different voltages and lengths of voltages change the gene expression in E. coli. Another project she is working on is seeing if the lab group can use electrical information to determine which pathogen is in a given media.

After graduation, Jaskowiak plans to attend graduate school. As a career, she is interested in becoming a genetic counselor. Genetic counselors look at peoples' genomes and see if they are more susceptible to certain diseases and if there are lifestyle changes that they should make to be healthier.

Outside of the lab, Jaskowiak enjoys reading and going on walks. She also plays club volleyball for the university and is a part of Beta Psi Omega, a co-ed, professional biology fraternity on campus.

Published July 12, 2023