ABOVE: JENNA O’CONNOR
Amanda Tokash-Peters’s research career hasn’t been a long one, but it’s already involved some dramatic changes in focus, including a switch from amphibians to mosquitos as subjects, and a recent foray into seal poop. The central question that unites her work, she says, is: “How is the environment . . . shaping microbiomes across different systems?”
Tokash-Peters first felt the pull of life science thanks to an honors biology course during her first year in a New Jersey high school, she recalls. The teacher “was no nonsense and expected you to really, truly understand and be able to apply material in a way that other folks hadn’t at that point.” And along with her high expectations, the teacher conveyed a passion for the subject, Tokash-Peters recalls.
Hooked, she went on to study biology as an undergraduate at Washington College in Maryland, where she sought out opportunities for ...
