Undergraduate Alumni Spotlight
Victoria Garza-Nagel ’26 made the most of her time at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee by seeking out broad opportunities to learn, serve, and gain hands-on experience. Through the Community Leaders Internship Program (CLIP), she completed internships that broadened her professional skills while helping her discover where her interests and strengths could make the biggest impact.
At Walker’s Point Youth & Family Center, Victoria developed skills in crisis intervention and quick decision-making to support vulnerable youth. The experience was so rewarding that she was hired by the organization after completing her internship. She also gained valuable field experience with the Lake Michigan Bird Observatory, where she helped lead a biochar project that converted invasive tree species into a carbon-rich material to improve soil health and support ecosystem restoration.
Victoria also conducted undergraduate research in Dr. Madhusudan Dey’s laboratory, studying antimicrobial compounds produced by Xenorhabdus szentirmaii and their role in ribosomal quality control. Working in the lab strengthened her technical skills and challenged her to think critically and confirmed her interest in a research career. Right after graduating in Spring 2026, Victoria got a laboratory position with Eurofins, where she was offered the job immediately after the interview!
Victoria plans to pursue graduate school and continue research in an academic setting. She said that her “background with both working in crisis situations and biology has contributed to my unique approach to problem solving and makes me feel more driven and enthusiastic about solving problems that impact different scales both in our direct community and on a global ecological level, encourage future graduates to remember to always keep going and that even when life becomes hard you become tougher! Your resilience is a skill set that will require exercising but pushing forward to achieve your dreams will never be a fruitless effort!” We here in BioSci couldn’t agree more!
Graduate Alumni Spotlight
Wendy Shelton was awarded a PhD in Biological Sciences degree in December 2024. Her innovative research in Dr. Karron’s lab explored the evolutionary strategies used by flowering plants to maximize reproductive potential. Through elegant fields, greenhouse and laboratory experiments, she discovered that flowering schedules of individual plants fluctuate markedly from day to day, leading to wide variation in flowering synchrony within and among populations. In January 2025, Wendy was appointed as an undergraduate Laboratory Manager where she oversees labs for six large enrollment courses totaling more than 1000 students per semester. Wendy also plays a critical role in training and supervising graduate students and teaching assistants in the UWM Dept of Biological Sciences. She is also the curator and designer of the Biological Sciences Mini Museum of Natural History.
Alumni Updates
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