As a child, Hannah Vietmeier went on nature walks and left no rock unturned — and at Willamette University, she continues training her eye on nature.
The summer after her sophomore year, Hannah worked with biology Professor Susan Kephart through Willamette's Science Collaborative Research Program to examine the way insects pollinate the camas flower.
Then she traveled to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado to join a research team studying the effects of soil nitrogen levels on flowering plants in the genus Ipomopsis.
"I'm so thankful to have found a mentor in Dr. Kephart," Hannah says. "She has really taken me under her wing. She helped me get my research assistant job in Colorado, and she later encouraged me to study abroad in Australia. To be treated like a real scientist as an undergraduate is really valuable.”
Hannah’s eventual goal is to work in environmental management, preferably in the forest or wetland landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.
"As someone who plans to major in biology and minor in English, I appreciate that Willamette encourages diverse academic interests. The more I learn about different fields, the more I learn about the ways they come together.”
