“Snake professor” featured in The Scientist article by alumna
Jackson conducts field work in the Republic of Congo.
The skink, Lygosoma fernandi.
(Photos courtesy of Kate Jackson)
Alumna Chris Tachibana ’8 2and Kate Jackson, assistant professor of biology, represent different generations of Whitman College, but they have come together through an article in the October 2010 edition of The Scientist.
Tachibana, a biology major who went on to earn a Ph.D. in molecular biology and become a science writer and editor, wrote the article, titled “Congo calling.” It chronicles Jackson’s experiences and adventures as a herpetologist whose work focuses on some of the world’s most dangerous snakes. In particular, it recounts the aftermath of Jackson’s trip to the Congo in 2008. During that trip, Jackson acquired a virus that damaged her spinal cord, requiring her to need leg braces and sometimes a wheel chair.
Click here to read the article. The link remains live through mid-December, 2010.
Click here to learn more about Chris Tachibana.