Just the Beginning! by Abe Eldo

Hey Everyone!! My name is Abe Eldo, and I am a recent graduate of Council Rock High School North. I was born in New Jersey but moved to Pennsylvania when I was five. I am attending the University of Pittsburgh in the fall, majoring in neuroscience. In high school, I was a two year member of the science fair club. In this club, I was able to conduct experiments that studied habituation in the slime mold Physarum polycephalum and acclimatization to a magnetic field in Drosophila melanogaster. I also enjoyed playing varsity volleyball throughout high school.​

Volleyball taught me valuable lessons about leadership and teamwork, traits that have carried over to the lab as well.

Outside of academics, I LOVE exploring the outdoors. I make regular visits to Tyler State Park and enjoy exploring the various trails hidden amongst the trees. I was lucky enough to spend a week in Vermont’s Lake Saint Catherine this summer, a beautiful lake with scenic kayaking and hiking. I also enjoy keeping two fish tanks. Fish and aquatic plant keeping has been a hobby of mine for about two years now, and it has further reinforced in me the fragility of our environment. Whenever I see or do something that could be hostile to the environment, I think of my fish and how easily they could be harmed by such a small infraction.

I am beyond excited to begin our first experiments in TRIP. After completing two research projects in school, I became obsessed with becoming a scientific researcher in the future. I hope to gain more lab experience at TRIP this summer and prepare me for the possible lab work I may do in college. I hope that TRIP is just the beginning of my career, but I am certain it will be an invaluable experience.