Passion for Research Leads to Baskin Award for Benjamin Mallory
“Ben is not only very enthusiastic, working long hours in the laboratory, he also has an excellent understanding of the science underpinning the experiments he is conducting,” said Heyer. “He has a great trajectory ahead of him.”
When Wolf-Dietrich Heyer interviewed Benjamin Mallory for an undergraduate research position in the Heyer Lab almost two years ago, he noticed something about the transfer student from Butte College near Chico, Calif. A spark in the eyes, an unbridled enthusiasm.
“My key goal for undergraduates is to instill excitement about science, and Ben certainly caught the bug,” said Professor Heyer, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. “Very few of my undergraduate students choose biochemistry for their research project, as it requires more attention to detail and longer time blocks, making coordination with the academic schedule more difficult.”
By Mallory’s own admission, he spends a lot of time in the lab, running assays and practicing protein purification, among other tasks. His dedication to the craft has not gone unnoticed. He’s this year’s recipient of the Ronald and Lydia Baskin Award, which recognizes a graduating senior for excellence in biological sciences research.