Danielle Khost ’13

Class of 2013, Major in Biology

“When I was at Marymount Manhattan, I worked in Dr. Aguanno’s lab for three years, during which time I designed experiments for the lab’s research project, assembled formal scientific posters presenting my data, and attended numerous professional meetings at the national level. It took me a long time to realize how unusual it was as an undergrad to have so much agency in my research, and it gave me a tremendous advantage in making the transition to grad school.”

About

Danielle Khost graduated from the Biology program at MMC in 2013 and, most recently, successfully defended her doctorate thesis at the University of Rochester in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. While enrolled at Marymount Manhattan, Khost worked in Dr. Ann Aguanno’s lab for three years designing experiments for the lab’s research project, assembled formal scientific posters presenting her data, and attended numerous professional meetings at the national level. “It took me a long time to realize how unusual it was as an undergrad to have so much agency in my research, and it gave me a tremendous advantage in making the transition to grad school,” she explains. In addition to the straight-forward benefit of learning valuable techniques, working on my projects also taught Khost how to think critically about data and the proper questions to ask when doing an experiment. “I can definitely say that it was the main factor that drove me to pursue a career in science!”