5/29/12
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Mary Tschirhart '12 |
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Tschirhart participated in R-MC's Research Day, which was held on May 11. |
Randolph-Macon College student Mary Tschirhart ’12 is just as comfortable conducting research as she is designing theatre sets.
With a major in
psychology and a minor in
drama, Tschirhart has spent a lot of time in the Copley Science Center labs and in Cobb Theatre.
As the set designer for two of the Drama Department’s productions,
A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum and
Bedroom Farce, Tschirhart put her artistic skills to use.
“For
Forum the set was pretty much laid out in the script, but with
Bedroom Farce I got to use a lot more creativity,” she explains.
“It was a lot of fun because I really got into the mindset of the characters. I had to plan how to build a large and rather complicated set, which took some time and a lot of help from Professor Hillmar. He has been a great mentor and is one of the greatest influences on my life. Nothing is more exciting than seeing your set in action; it’s as though someone is living in your art. A fantastic feeling.”
SURFing Through Summer Tschirhart’s 2011
SURF (Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship) experience played a pivotal role in her college career. Under the guidance of Psychology Professor Kelly Lambert, Tschirhart looked at two species of mice, one monogamous and the other non-monogamous, and observed how the mothers of a litter would react to stress with and without the presence of the father.
“We investigated how well a stressed mother would cope with the absence of the father. It turned out that it depended on the species: Monogamous species do better with the father present and non-monogamous species do much better in single-mother units.”
This month, Tschirhart will present her research at the International Behavioral Neuroscience Conference in Hawaii. Lambert will be there, as will
Molly Brown ’12 and
Casey Kaufman ’12 who also did SURF research.
“We will also be accompanied by
Molly Hyer ’09 and
Amanda Rzucidlo ’09 who served as laboratory managers,” says Tschirhart. “This is a rare opportunity, and I am extremely grateful to Professor Lambert.”
Future Plans
Tschirhart plans on attending graduate school—she’s aiming for Virginia Commonwealth University or George Mason University—to earn her Ph.D. in psychology.
“I would like to go into research or become a professor at a university,” she says. “It would be great to help support students in the same way that my R-MC professors have mentored me.”