Alyssa Hartzheim joined the lab in the Fall of 2019 as a MS student and a SUPERB scholarship recipient. Alyssa is from Raleigh, North Carolina where she got her BS in Zoology in 2018 from North Carolina State University (GO WOLFPACK). While at NC State, Alyssa spent time volunteering with the Turtle Rescue Team at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, assisting with daily treatments of injured native turtles and working primarily with Common Snapping Turtles.
Also, during her undergraduate career Alyssa served as the President of the Zoology Club at NC State, a teaching assistant, and a lab assistant. In the Fall of 2018 Alyssa lived in a bush camp in Namibia. While she was there, she worked with a team that piloted drones to conduct game counts on land owned by the N/a’an ku sê Foundation. Following graduation Alyssa was employed as the Assistant Curator of the Live Animal Teaching Collection at the North Carolina Museum of Natural History. Currently, Alyssa enjoys conducting her research at the Memphis Zoo, visiting with Bob the Tortoise, and listening to bad music in her office with her pet tarantula "Alice". Lastly, Alyssa is obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Zombies, Horror Movies, Hockey, and Antelope and is willing to talk about them at any time. Thesis Project: Effect of Stress on the Innate Immune Response of Various Chelonian Species |