1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Alumni

Call of the wild: Transy alum’s passion is no flight of fancy

Posted on by John Friedlein

As nearby turtle tanks burble, Geoff Roberts pulls a coiled corn snake from an aquarium. Even up close, it’s immediately evident the docile creature with beautiful orange markings is nothing to be afraid of. Roberts explains how encounters in controlled settings like this one in the Salato Wildlife Education Center can help people overcome their snake phobias. That isn’t the main reason Roberts, a conservation educator and 2007 Transylvania University grad, shows animals to visitors. It is, however, an example of how his psychology degree still comes in handy. People often are surprised to learn about his undergraduate major, seeing as how he works for the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife. Roberts even once pursued a master’s degree in mental health counseling at Eastern Kentucky University. But that’s not where his lifelong passion lies—he discovered a love for wildlife as a young boy during excursions with his grandfather in the countryside near Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Thing is, during that time at EKU he felt like he’d already invested a lot of time into psychology, so it would have been a waste to not continue along that path. He changed course, though—maybe in part because of his liberal arts background at Transy, which encourages students not to get stuck in mental ruts, and in part because his mom encouraged him to follow his dream. The turning point was when he switched master’s programs to study recreation and park administration. “I knew

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Q&A: How Jessica Marie Konen ’10 discovered her path to cancer research at Transy

Posted on by Robin Hicks

A postdoctoral fellow at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Jessica Marie Konen ’10 is researching immunotherapy in the treatment of lung cancer. We asked her to tell us about her research and how it relates to her time at Transy. Where did you grow up and why did you choose Transy? I grew up in northern Kentucky, a small town called Fort Thomas. When I began looking for colleges, I knew I wanted to go to a small liberal arts institution, mostly because the idea of a big state school was terrifying. And I knew the reputation of schools like Transy. Though I had my pick of a few schools, I ultimately chose Transy for several reasons. The biology program was highly esteemed; the campus was gorgeous and felt like home; and I knew I could see myself roaming it for four years. What kind of cancer research are you doing?   I am working in the field of immunotherapy for treatment of lung cancer. Basically, we are trying to find ways to kick-start a patient’s own immune system to do the heavy lifting and combat the cancer for us. This field has revolutionized cancer therapy in many tumor types, and has even led to some cures of late-stage diseases which previously had little hope. However, like many cancer treatments, there are issues with resistance – the tumor smartly finds different ways to shut the immune response down. So I

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