Brittany Slabach

Ligonier, IN

What has been your favorite class at COA? Why?

I have had several favorites. Bread, Love, and Dreams, Animal Behavior, Ecology, Conservation Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, and Environmental Law and Policy were all wonderful. They all pushed my mental abilities, testing and challenging my beliefs and thinking processes. It made for a stimulating and tiresome course load, but I learned more in these classes than in others.

What classes have you taken at COA?

Animal Behavior

Bread, Love, and Dreams

Chem 1 and 2

Bio 2

Ecology

Anatomy and Physiology

Intro to Piano

Piano Tutorial

Starting Your Novel

Turn of the Century

Gender in a Global Perspective

Psychology

Aesthetics of Violence

Evolution

Environmental Law and Policy

Conservation Biology

Climate Change and the Global Environment

Organic Chemistry

Bio Through the Lens

Independent Study: Exploring the Self and the Other

Independent Study: Advanced Animal Behavior

What was your favorite lesson/lecture/discussion/project at COA? Why?

Anything involving Bill Carpenter. He is amazing at provoking interesting conversation. My conservation biology "recovery plan" was also wonderful. It allowed me to demonstrate my knowledge of biology, conservation, and socio-economics in areas that I am interested in, and place it in a real world scenario, a "what would you do" role. It also pertained to what I hope to do in the future which was even better.

What is your dream occupation?

Living in a grass hut in the middle of the African jungle, studying the social organization, hunting behavior, and mating strategies of African apes. I want to own a bakery some day too.

Do you work on or off campus? If yes, where?

Both. My workstudy is with the mailroom and I am the assistant manager at Cadillac Mountain Sports in town.

What do you see yourself doing after COA?

Taking a little time off and then diving (hopefully) into graduate research!

What is happiness to you?

My family, laughing, while sitting on a porch enjoying the summer air.

Have you had an internship? If so, doing what? Where? If not, what are your plans, if any, for your internship?

I have done three actually. I started off as a "duckling" intern at the COA Alice Eno research station. I collected data on the leach's storm petrels and loved it! I then made my way to Belize working with the Wildlife Care Center of Belize collecting pre-release data on a group of rehabilitated black howler monkeys. My final internship was in Chicago at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I was part of the behavioral monitoring team at the L.E. Fisher Center for the Study of Apes. I took spatial data on gorillas and chimpanzees all day. No better job than to watch apes all day!

What are your ideas for your senior project? If you have already done one, what did you do?

I decided to do a thesis entitled "Ape Research: History of Methodology." I didn't have time to go back into the field and needed to catch up on current research and figure out what I'm really interested in. It was a great experience and I honestly look forward to writing a PhD thesis one day using my own data.

What do you like to do when you're not doing school work?

Go for a walk, hike, or sometimes just sit on my bum and literally stare at the wall. Your brain needs a break every now and then.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

I don't like eggs.

Why did you choose to come to COA?

The self guidance in choosing your own education and the one on one nature of the professors and students. I wouldn't be half the person I am today without some of the COA faculty and staff.

What do people say is your most marked characteristic?

My outgoing personality. I'm not very shy and like to meet new people.