WKU News

Gatton Alum Whitney Heard (Bowling Green HS, ’16) won the 3MT Competition at WKU on Wednesday, February 23rd. A graduate student in the biology department, Heard is conducting research on bacteriophages and antibiotic resistance. The 3MT Competition requires students to break down their research, presenting it in a way that a lay audience can understand, in three minutes or less. The national 3MT competition will take place on April 8^th at the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) annual meeting.

Heard will graduate from WKU this summer and is currently applying for CDC-backed fellowships to work in a public health laboratory. She would like to gain more experience in microbial-based research before pursuing her PhD. Heard joined The Genome Discovery and Exploration Program her first year at Gatton to try something new, and it ultimately encouraged her love of research. During her time at Gatton, Heard completed several research projects. “This gave me the space to explore different disciplines and ultimately determined what I was interested in. Additionally, some of these projects led to publications so I feel like I was able to be established in the scientific community at an early age which opened doors for me.”

“My favorite experience at Gatton was the trip to Greece. It was my first time going abroad and I love Greek culture and history, so it felt like a dream come true.” Following Gatton, Heard went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis before returning to WKU for her graduate studies.

About The Gatton Academy: Established in 2007, The Gatton Academy is Kentucky’s first residential two-year program for gifted and talented junior and seniors. The Gatton Academy’s students enroll as juniors and are full-time WKU students pursuing their interests in advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Gatton Academy has been named to Jay Mathews’ list of top-performing schools with elite students for eleven consecutive appearances and received the National Consortium for Secondary STEM School’s Innovation Partnership Award.