GET TO KNOW ASK A NEUROSCIENTIST
Morgan's Science Journey
Morgan's first scientific poster presentation
Morgan presenting recent research on her thesis project
Morgan is currently getting her Ph.D. in Neuroscience, but she didn't always know she wanted to be a researcher. She started doing research when she was 17, and it began as a way to beef up her medical school applications. She dreamt of becoming a neurosurgeon from the time she was 12! In her first lab, she discovered a passion for neuroscience and loved getting to work with astrocytes, cells in the brain named after the way they look like stars. But she still had her eyes set on medical school. When she began her undergraduate education at Oklahoma State University, she joined a lab studying oxytocin and vasopressin in mice. Oxytocin is commonly known as "the love hormone", but to Morgan it is so much more. During her time in that lab, she began working on her medical school applications and even took the MCAT! It was while writing her personal statement that she discovered all she could focus on was her research, not her shadowing experience or leadership in pre-med clubs. It became clear to her (and her therapist) that her true love was neuroscience research. Once she graduated from OSU with two bachelor's degrees (Biology and Physiology), she got a position as a lab tech and began seriously considering pursuing a Ph.D. Now she is working on obtaining her Ph.D. and is currently locked in a love/hate relationship with graduate school.
Ask A Neuroscientist's Research
In previous labs, Morgan has studied traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), monogamy and the social dynamics that oxytocin and vasopressin are involved in, and strokes. Through these labs and research experiences she discovered a love of behavioral neuroscience. For her doctoral work she is examining how stress impacts learning, with a specific focus on female subjects.