2018-2019 Avatar: Elvin Irihamye

My name is Elvin Irihamye, I’m a senior at the Gatton Academy from Lexington, arguably the best city in Kentucky. Outside the classroom, I love to explore the city of Bowling green with friends and participate in several clubs from Yearbook to Gatton Academy Medical Association (which I run with my sister). In addition, I also like to go down to the Preston center during the weekdays to work out and playing basketball with friends. On weekends, I love spending time on wing watching late night movies or playing video games to recharge before another week of hard work.

As a middle school student, I had been fortunate to have an older sibling who attended the academy. I had seen her transform into a confident and ambitious young adult ready to take on the world. Watching her change as she went through the Gatton Academy made me even more anxious to come and take on the same challenges.

Growing up I’d always wanted to pursue the sciences, hoping to grow up to be able to help impact others around me and maybe even extend our understanding of science and medicine. Coming from Lexington, opportunities to succeed academically were always present but being at the Gatton Academy has given me so much more of an immersive and wholesome experience.

After talking to several professors I decided to start my research career with the Neurobiology lab of Dr. Michael Smith for both the school year and the summer. I began learning zebrafish microdissection techniques in order to observe how certain chemotherapy drugs can induce hearing loss. I later continued this research over the summer with the Gatton Research Internship Grant which funded housing and supplies for me to work on my project. I truly feel as if research is an important part of my academic satisfaction and having this experience has confirmed my desire to continue to pursue research beyond the academy.

In the winter term, I was able to go on the Gatton Academy Costa Rica study abroad trip where we got to learn about ecology and biodiversity in real life conservation camps and projects. While there my group studied the efficiency of reforestation efforts in regaining carbon storage levels in a Costa Rican cloud forest. Our research was able to highlight how reforestation has significantly improved the forests ability to store carbon and even explore the specific species types that are most efficient. I was later able to place at the WKU Student Research Conference with the same research.

After a year of experiencing newfound hobbies, meeting some of my favorite people and truly finding a sense of independence, I’m beyond ecstatic to be here for another year of what I expect will be full of fun, learning, and exploration.

 

Elvin