Stephanie Michelle Johnson
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Dear National Science Foundation,
My name is Stephanie Johnson. I am a senior entomology major at Cornell University in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I would like to impart my most sincere gratitude for your magnanimous financial support that funded my participation in the 2003 Research Training Program at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. I believe that the best way for me to express my thanks is to describe how participating in the RTP program has benefited me.
For quite a while now I have been struggling to decide exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life. It is a decision that some people never successfully make and that I don’t realistically intend to resolve anytime soon. However, my graduate school applications will soon be due and I need to at least decide what path I will take after I obtain my Bachelor’s of Science degree in entomology. Entomology is a rather large field and I am interested in many of its aspects, but I like to study insect systematics, ecology, and behavior most of all. Unfortunately it would be very difficult to conduct research in both insect ecology and systematics, so I must make a choice between the two. At Cornell I have already done insect ecology and insect behavior research, but I have had no actual systematics research experience. I cannot think of any place that would be better than the National Museum of Natural History to learn about insect systematics. Thus, I decided to participate in the RTP program this summer in to learn what systematics research is all about.
Although less of the program time was dedicated to actual research in my field than I would have liked, I have had a great experience at the museum learning about describing new species, making phylogenies, preparing specimens, and many other things. My advisor, Dr. Ted Schultz, and the other people in the Smithsonian ant lab have helped me to gain a greater understanding of insect systematics and to identify my real life goal, which is to travel all over the world and see lots of really cool insects. This summer I learned more about Attine fungus-growing ants, ants in general, and the species Cyphomyrmex longiscapus in particular, than I had ever hoped to learn. I am grateful to the National Science Foundation for providing me with the opportunity to attend the 2003 Smithsonian RTP.
Sincerely,
Stephanie M. Johnson
Research Training Program, 2003
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