Faculty FrontDoor

Jennifer Skorupa, M.S.

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself." - Galileo


ABOUT ME


I graduated from Rutgers University with Bachelor's degrees in Biological Sciences and Psychology and minors in Nutritional Sciences and Animal Sciences. During my undergrad I joined a research lab in the Animal Sciences Department focusing on the effects of diet on the hypothalamus and the further implications this had on obesity in mice.


I decided to continue my graduate studies at Rutgers when I was accepted into the Endocrinology and Animal Biosciences Program. My Masters Thesis research focused on cell culture using the MAC-T bovine mammary epithelial cell line to study how IGFBP-3 induced by ribotoxic stress effected cell apoptosis. Specifically I studied whether IGFBP-3 was required to be secreted prior to nuclear localization for intrinsic induced apoptosis.


During my graduate studies I was given the opportunity to TA for a number of undergraduate courses including: Biology Workshop, Biology Lab, Nutritional Sciences Lab, Endocrinology, and Methods in Molecular and Cellular Technique. I am grateful for my time as a TA because this is where I discovered my passion for science education.





Admittedly, I've been on the science bandwagon since before I can remember, probably from the countless hours of Animal Plant and Discover Channel I devoured as a kid. I am naturally curious, and these shows seemed to satisfy a craving for understanding the "how's" and "why's."

I'm sure many of you have a similar story; a moment you can look back on and identify as the beginning of a road that has led you here.


"Imagination is more important than knowledge". - Albert Einstein


I'd love if this class sparked, even in some small way, a deeper interest in the natural world around us. Science is certainly a discipline rooted in strict guidelines with the goal of understanding underlying truths, but I believe at the heart of that pursuit needs to remain imagination, curiosity, and that genuine childlike interest that started you down this road years ago.


The time and effort required to grasp the concepts in this class are not always fun, and sometimes the discipline can be grueling. However, I guarantee if you put forth the effort, it will pay forward many times over in your future professional careers and personal lives.


Best of luck this semester!