Dr. Dale Beach & Heaven Cerritos ’14

It’s definitely what you would call a win-win situation: Assistant biology professor gets assistance in conducting research important to gaining tenure; undergraduate student gets hands-on experience that prepares her for graduate school.

Dr. Dale Beach describes his work as “my creativity,” but he recognizes its practical importance for himself and for his students. “It’s an important part of education in the sciences. For those interested in research-based professions it’s extremely important.”

Beach has two student research assistants every semester. This year, one of those assistants is biology major Heaven Cerritos ’14.

She first met Beach when she interned for him in her sophomore year. She so enjoyed the research—tracing back evolutionary roots of a fungus called Pilobolus—that she continued with the ongoing project after her internship ended. In addition, Beach and Cerritos have been accepted into a competitive research program this summer where they will have the opportunity to sequence the complete genome of the Pilobolus fungus.

“There’s a lot more to research than what you learn in class,” said Cerritos. “You really have to apply what you’re learning. Dr. Beach cares whether you understand the material. He’s patient and willing to take time with students. You can run things by him more than once. He seems to remember what it’s like to be in college.”

From Beach’s perspective, not all student research assistants are created equal. “What’s great about Heaven is she is willing to try,” he said. “Some students are trepidatious. Not Heaven. She’s never shut down by fear that something might not work. And that’s an essential quality for a scientist. She also has a real natural talent for genomic sequencing.”

Cerritos plans to study biology in graduate school. After working on Beach’s project, she has narrowed her area of interest to either molecular or microbiology, but still isn’t quite sure which. “But that’s really good for me,” she said. “I came to Longwood loving every aspect of biology and couldn’t even think of narrowing my interest. Dr. Beach has helped me to focus.”