Roxanne Leiter

REACH Graduate Teaching Assistant, MA student

About

I work with Dr. Christopher Tillquist.

 

My academic and research interests are in population genetics and molecular anthropology more broadly. I also work at the university as a reading comprehension instructor through a graduate assistantship the REACH program. While I was an undergrad, I was invited to present at the Undergraduate Research Symposium at the university and shared research on the role of the Apo-E gene in familial autism incidence. I also attended my first American Association of Physical Anthropologists annual conference and presented a poster of a project that is currently being prepared to submit for publication. This project centered on the distribution of ApoE alleles in northern Europe, specifically in island populations that can either remain well-integrated with mainland populations or become more distinct from them through isolation. I am a member of AAPA and will be attending my second conference in the spring.

I am very happy with my experience as a graduate student. I am still completing coursework but the courses I have taken thus far have been great. The courses are challenging but always interesting and the anthropology department has exceptional professors. My mentor is Dr. Christopher Tillquist, who I have also worked with on my undergraduate projects. My favorite course in the department was Darwin but I take something away from each one!

Fun Facts:

I am, in fact, not named after the Police song but you can sing it to me anyway.

I love a good game of backgammon.