Heather Dean
Ph.D. Candidate, Neurobiology
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Heather Dean has called many states home, including Oklahoma, Ohio, and Texas. “My parents were undergraduates at St. Louis University when I was born, and my dad later served as an electrical engineer in the U.S. Air Force. Because of that, my family moved every few years,” Heather explains. “I followed in my dad’s footsteps and trained as an electrical engineer.” As an undergraduate at the California Institute of Technology, Heather developed an interest in neural networks, both artificial and biological. After working in an electrical engineering lab creating a rule-based learning system for producing music, she joined a neurobiology lab studying olfaction in locusts with Drs. Gilles Laurent and Brian Smith. Heather considers her work in Dr. Laurent’s lab “the turning point for me from electrical engineering to graduate study in neurobiology.” Using single cell electrophysiology, the laboratory examined the neural response to odors in the locust antennal lobe and associated structures. Heather’s work in this lab became the subject of her master’s thesis. “I so enjoyed that work, as well as the idea of remaining on a college campus, that I decided to apply to graduate school rather than pursue a career in electrical engineering.”
John Allman, a professor at California Institute of Technology and a member of the Duke University Primate Center’s External Advisory Board, recommended that Heather apply to Duke’s neurobiology department. “When I visited, I thought I had already decided to attend Yale University, but the people I met at Duke changed my decision. I had such a wonderful and educational visit, and several of the students, post-docs, and faculty members I had met here kept in contact with me afterwards, including my advisor, Dr. Michael Platt. In particular, Dr. Erich Jarvis, a professor in Duke Neurobiology, encouraged me to join the department and put me in contact with several other students and faculty members at Duke who also helped me make my decision. I’m glad that they did!”
Heather began her graduate studies at Duke in Fall 2000. “When I arrived at Duke, I knew I wanted to do a rotation in Michael Platt’s lab. He had just arrived at Duke, so I had the opportunity to help set up the lab, which was a great learning experience. It also gave me a lot of flexibility in choosing a project. I enjoyed all of my rotations in various Neurobiology and CCN [Center for Cognitive Neuroscience] labs, but the Platt lab particularly caught my attention because of the great research opportunities and the people who were joining the lab.” She joined this lab at the end of her first year and currently studies how cells in the posterior cingulated cortex encode information about space. From the results of these explorations, she will compose her proposed dissertation, “Spatial Reference Frames in Posterior Cingulate Cortex.”
When asked about activities outside her academic work, Heather responds, “Research is great, and I’m glad that I’m in the lab that I chose, but I love getting involved with student groups. It’s wonderful to meet new people and find out what’s going on in the world outside the lab. I really enjoy working on a cause or bringing people together. I also very much enjoy the people who are very involved in student leadership. There are some really amazing students at Duke.”
Through her student group leadership and community service experiences in several campus and community organizations, Duke has become a true home for Heather, helping her to stay the arduous course of doctoral study. “Coming to Duke from California, I wasn’t sure that I’d like Durham. I was afraid that the attitudes and customs would be pretty different, and outside Duke University, they sometimes are. I missed my favorite restaurants and the culture at Caltech. I remember visiting California during winter break my first year and not wanting to come back to Duke! This area has since really grown on me and become my home. It took a little while, but I’ve found new favorite restaurants, friends, and activities. I love meeting new people through the Graduate and Professional Student Council [GPSC] or the Graduate and Professional Women’s Network [GPWN], attending the Union’s Broadway at Duke series, or checking out the beaches and mountains of North Carolina.”
Heather observes that service experiences, in particular, offer a variety of benefits, some of which may even contribute to a student’s academic success. Networking opportunities at service events often provide students with helpful contacts. “You never know when the person working next to you might be in a lab looking for a post-doc in your field or be able to write you an influential letter of recommendation. Informal conversations about what a student is working on also might allow a student to gain a new perspective on a problem.” Service experiences also get students away from their studies, which, as Heather notes, can help focus a person. “Everyone needs the opportunity to get out of lab or classes for a while, and volunteering is one of the best ways. It can be a lot of fun, as well as educational and helpful to the community. I think of it as a sanity saver!”
In a broader sense, Heather also points out that service opportunities can provide “a really great educational experience. I have never known much about art, but I enjoy learning more by volunteering every year at the Durham Arts Council [DAC]. Graduate students can gain leadership and people skills as well.” Meeting and learning from others outside Duke is one of the benefits that she enjoys most. “Sometimes I forget that there are jobs and people outside academia! It’s almost always fun, whether a student is helping to build a new house, maintaining trails, spending time with a Little Sib, or enjoying Edible Arts at the DAC.”
Heather thinks the specific talents and abilities of graduate and professional students are tailored to Durham’s need for mentors. “I’ve heard that while the Triangle area has the highest percentage of Ph.D.s, it also has the highest percentage of high school dropouts. Many children and young adults can greatly benefit from the mentoring and encouragement that can be provided by Duke students. Graduate and professional students can be especially good role models for those who might have an interest in science, law, literature, or medicine but might not know how to pursue their interests.”
Finally, graduate and professional students should also be aware of some of the pitfalls that can detract from the value of service experiences. Good time management and the ability to say “no” will guard against spreading oneself too thin. And service should be viewed as a partnership with benefits to both the volunteer and the recipient of her efforts; otherwise, the volunteer may be left feeling unfulfilled and unlikely to repeat the experience, while the recipient could feel alienated and unreceptive to future helping hands. As Heather’s experiences show, with a little care given to the selection of and preparation for service opportunities, the rewards far outweigh the potential difficulties.
Michael Platt
Assistant Professor, Neurobiology
Heather Dean is a uniquely dedicated and productive graduate student who is also deeply committed to both academic and community service. As one of our brightest and hardest-working graduate students, she somehow makes the time to volunteer in graduate student government as well as at the Duke Women’s Center. This dedication to education, research, and service requires an uncommon degree of diligence, organization, and optimism. These qualities are obvious in Heather and have deep roots. Heather earned her bachelor’s degree at Caltech in engineering, something rather uncommon for women even today, and then went on to do a master’s degree in neuroscience. At the same time, she volunteered her “free” time to community service as well as athletics. When she applied to our graduate program, we were so impressed by Heather’s academic and research background that we gave her an honorary fellowship award. Heather’s drive towards excellence in both academia and service to the community uniquely positions her to make great achievements and give hope to the notion that scientists can give back to the communities that support us.
(This profile originally appeared in the Spring 20004 issue of The GRIND.)