Alumni Spotlight: Amelie Andreas ’20 Discusses Biochemistry and Favorite TGS Moments

1) Hi Amelie, can you tell us what you’ve been up to since graduating from THINK Global School in 2020?

Since graduating, I moved to Portland, Oregon, where I’m currently wrapping up a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at Reed College. Some highlights of the last four years include earning my nuclear reactor operator’s license, conducting microbiological field work at Glacier National Park in Montana, and spending a year as the host of the Burn Your Draft podcast exploring the Reed senior thesis experience, where students embark on a year-long extended research project in their field of study. Right now, a lot of my time is spent working in Professor Shivani Ahuja’s lab on my own senior thesis, investigating bacterial manganese ion homeostasis by probing the structures of proteins that help bacteria sense and respond to metal stress. 

I’ve also been lucky enough to have the chance to return to some of the locations I called home as a student at TGS; in the summer of 2021, I returned to Nosara, Costa Rica, to conduct research on avian biodiversity for an NGO called the Wildlife Conservation Association we encountered during our 2019 visit with TGS. The next year, I returned to Greece when my partner and fellow TGS alumnus Soeun Kim had an internship with the Smithsonian to profile food-culture relationships in Athen’s immigrant communities. 

2) Do you feel that your time at THINK Global School prepared you for life post-graduation? If so, how so? 

Yes! Although coming into college, I definitely had to work hard, what I really valued was how TGS taught me how to learn autonomously. Take, for instance, my Mastery Project, where I built a science experiment kit for kids about astrobiology, the study of what life outside of Earth could look like. I had to learn a lot about an unfamiliar subject that many of my TGS educators had not yet heard of. Although I spent a lot of time honing research skills and navigating academic resources, I was also encouraged to reach out to experts. 

Long story short, I realized that most people are pretty happy to help out an enthusiastic young person, even if they happen to be scientists with fancy degrees! This boldness to ask for help from brilliant people and willingness to take initiative in learning has been a huge factor in many opportunities I’ve been lucky to receive since graduating, and will continue to serve me for years to come.

3) What do you see yourself doing five years from now, or what would you like to be doing? 

I’ve really fallen in love with research over the past year or so, and I see myself pursuing this as a career, whether in industry or academia. In the scope of a five-year outlook, this probably puts me somewhere in the world finishing up a graduate degree (I have a few offers for Microbiology PhDs I’m currently considering) and hopefully having contributed meaningfully to science while I was at it. 

Currently, my passion is understanding how bacteria can sense and respond to different environmental conditions because I can’t help but be fascinated by their brilliant strategies to survive extreme heat, cold, acidity, or other stressors. Furthermore, I’m very enthusiastic about the implications of these clever survival mechanisms in bio-inspired design; I’m firmly convinced that bacteria can save the world!

4) If you have any advice for current TGS students as they explore the world, what would it be? 

My advice would be to take advantage of this opportunity to build connections with people across the world, whether that be your classmates, host city specialists, or strangers you meet on the street. You never know when you’ll be glad to know someone, whether that comes in the form of a professional opportunity or a couch to sleep on in an unfamiliar city. Even if you don’t end up ever reaching out again, you’ll remember these experiences for years to come, and they’ll shape you in unexpected ways. Also, always bring one more pair of socks than you think you’ll need!

5) Four years later, are there any TGS memories that have emerged as your most memorable?

I think for me, the most memorable experience I had at TGS was our twelve-day trek through the backcountry of Patagonia, Chile. I remember a day when I was assigned to be the navigator, using a compass and an old map to guide us through the wilderness. One moment, feeling totally lost, I asked the instructor for help, assuming she knew the answer and was just letting us figure things out as a learning experience. She told me she had never been to this area before, and my guess was as good as hers; she didn’t know the answer, and we both had the same tools at hand to figure one out. I realized then that there is no absolute answer or direction we should follow but rather a constant collaborative endeavor of understanding that takes us from one place to the next.

6) What was your favorite country and why?

One of my favorite countries was probably Oman 🇴🇲. For our weXplore that semester, we hiked through the Sharqiya Sands with a camel escort and experienced some of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve probably ever seen, with nothing but dunes and sky for miles. A photo I took on that trip even ended up being a finalist for a National Geographic photography competition! 

I also fondly remember ‘Beach Mondays,’ where every Monday, we would take a trip to the beach for team-building activities and watersports to try and break the stereotype of Mondays, signifying the start of a boring school or work week. It goes without saying that the food, coffee culture, and desserts were incredible and still occupying my mind to this day.