Being able to participate in collegiate athletics is something many kids dream about. For BW women's volleyball student-athlete Maddie Bednar '22, pairing that with coursework opportunities inside and outside of the classroom means a lot more.
Bednar,
a
biology
major,
is
working
with
BW
biology
professor
Dr.
Natalie
M.
Barratt
and
fellow
teammate
Ivy
Earl
'22,
a
biology
and
public
health
major
from
Howell,
Michigan,
on
a
research
project.
"It
was
Dr.
Barratt
that
helped
develop
my
love
of
botany
and
plants.
It
fostered
my
desire
to
work
with
plants
in
the
future,"
said
Bednar.
"I
had
never
done
research
up
until
that
point,
so
being
able
to
do
that
with
a
teammate
whom
I
have
known
for
a
while
was
really
fun."
In addition to her research with Barratt, Bednar was an intern at Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio. The Chagrin Falls, Ohio, resident spent her days doing a mix of lab and fieldwork. She collected samples of mostly conifers and processed the samples.
It
was
there
that
Bednar
had
the
opportunity
to
work
alongside
a
postdoctoral
scholar.
Though
the
scholar
is
now
a
professor
in
Oregon,
Bednar
is
still
working
with
him
on
the
research
project.
When
asked
how
Bednar
balances
being
a
student,
athlete
and
intern,
she
noted,
"I've
been
a
student-athlete
for
a
very
long
time.
I've
learned
how
to
balance
practice,
games
and
work.
What
I've
found
is
that
having
all
these
things
at
once
gives
me
a
schedule,
keeps
me
focused
and
is
very
natural
for
me."
