Annika Gehl
I'm interested in exploring the effects of various environmental stressors (ie. light, thermal, and auditory stress) on early-stage development and how exposure to these stressors may change how toxic compounds affect the body. My research uses zebrafish as a model organism: because their development is similar to that of a human's, we can use data collected on zebrafish to potentially inform how similar environmental stressors may affect human development.
My favorite part of my job is that I'll never run out of things to learn. I love that I can do an experiment, analyze data, and come up with ten more questions that I can try to answer with several more experiments. I love that I get to learn and discover new things every day.
I hope to inform people about how different environmental stressors, especially early in life, can impact how chemicals affect their bodies and their body's processes.
During my undergraduate career, I had the opportunity to work with a large dataset from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources that contained information about water quality and characteristics. Over the semester, I got to analyze the data and learn how to draw conclusions from it. Through this experience, I realized how much more I would rather work with data and conclusions than work in medicine, which had been my plan previously.
I hope to go into consulting.
When I'm not doing science, I love going for long walks and spending time on the Oregon coast. I also spend a lot of my time outside of the lab painting and playing with my roomates' cats.