Research Writer Interview With Joshua

My name is Joshua, and I am a 28 year old graduate student at Georgetown University School of Medicine. My childhood was spent in the scenic valleys and rivers of Northeast Pennsylvania. The beautiful hills and valleys made it easy to get lost in history, fantasy, and wonder for the natural world. The hills and valleys of rural Pa have been traded in for the monuments and metro rails of Washington, D.C. and I'm pleased to say I'm enjoying exploring this concrete metropolis.

As a pre-medical Biology major at Muhlenberg I enjoyed rigorous coursework in genetics, cellular and molecular biology, genetics, immunology, anatomy, in addition to many wonderful courses in organismal biology. Many traditional pre-medical programs neglect organismal biology and ecology in their coursework but thanks to the nature of Muhlenberg's liberal arts environment I benefitted from coursework in a wide-array of fields. This cross-disciplinary approach fostered a methodical research in addition to a stringent adherence to academic protocols for submitted work.

In addition to this biology coursework our students are required to take two courses in each of the following: Business, Government, Science, Logic, Behavior, Art, Language Arts, English Composition, History, Religion, and Diversity. As the recipient of a full Presidential Assistant scholarship I took the opportunity to take additional coursework during my summers in creative writing and English composition.

After completing my Bachelor's degree at Muhlenberg in May of 2011, I spent a year studying genetic migration in Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees at Villanova University in conjunction with Muhlenberg College and the University of Pennsylvania. Much of this time was spent researching endless tomes of scientific and legal publications for grant proposals and review papers for avian conservation efforts. The end result of this work was a publication disseminated to legal groups in hopes of protecting bird populations in the United States.

At the mid-way point in this research I began graduate school at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. I am currently working on a M.Sc in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology with a concentration in Bioinformatics. This cross-disciplinary major emphasizes using computational techniques to search, curate, and build databases for Biological research in addition to traditional biological research techniques. The coursework in biochemistry, structural biology, and computer science is particularly rewarding because each week provides a new challenge with unique solutions.

After attaining my M.Sc I plan to spend a year teaching and working before going on to become a J.D candidate at a D.C area law school.

I have always enjoyed research. Gathering information from varied sources in hopes of gleaning a bigger picture from the details has a certain thrill to it. As a child of the computer age, I also take pride in finding articles or data sources not immediately apparent from simple search strategies. Of course, I also enjoy articulating a bit of new information I've gained from aggregating research articles. My academic coursework at Muhlenberg and Georgetown has placed a strong focus on building arguments empirically in addition to the proper citation of sources. With this training in addition to my personal curiosity and love of writing I would make an excellent addition to your freelance writing staff.