With graduation soon approaching, senior women's lacrosse captain Phoebe Hammer is preparing for a presentation at the Experimental Biology conference in San Diego, California and working on her medical school application. In addition to these commitments, Hammer is practicing daily to help the Yeowomen achieve something that has not been done since 2000, a berth in the NCAC women's lacrosse tournament.
 
In October, Hammer and her biology research lab-mates were invited to the Ohio Physiology Society conference to present their research on the model organism, c.elegans. At the conference, all three of their projects won different awards, and received recognition in the physiology society. Because of this recognition, Hammer's research team was invited to present their research at the Experimental Biology Conference in San Diego on April 26.
 
Hammer has done research for the College since the fall of her junior year. Her early research was with plants, but this summer she switched to animals.
 
"I started research on ­c. elegans this summer in Dr. Maureen Peter's lab. She studies defecation so I am working with a known defecation mutant and investigating whether it has other neuromuscular defects," Hammer said. "Because the semester is coming to an end, a lot of our time researching is spent on perfecting our presentation boards."
 
In addition to her invitation to present at the biology conference, Hammer was recently inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. This society is the oldest and one of the most prestigious honor society in the country. Only the most outstanding arts and sciences students at America's leading colleges and universities are inducted.
 
"I feel really fortunate to be recognized for all the hard work I have done in college. It's nice to know that what I have been doing has paid off," Hammer said.
 
And indeed her hard work has paid off as Hammer is currently working on her application for medical school. She is applying to enter in 2015, but in her usual style, has busy plans for her gap year.
 
Next fall she will be starting clinical research at Oregon Health and Science University in the neurosurgery department.
 
"I think I really needed to take a year off to be sure of what I wanted to do, and gain more life experiences," Hammer said.  "I am really excited to do clinical research since most of my research experience has been lab-based."
 
Despite the busy academic commitments, Hammer continues to make lacrosse equally important. She has been a captain for the last three years, and has provided stability to a program that has seen many changes in four short years.
 
"Lacrosse has been the biggest challenge for me in college because it is so different than academics. If I study, I can get an A, but lacrosse and athletics in general is different, you are asking yourself to do something different, you are actually physically exerting yourself to the point of being exhausted," Hammer said. "It is something that I have had to put a lot of time and work into and I think it made me a much stronger person both mentally and physically."
 
This season, the Yeowomen have the opportunity to break a 12-year spell, and make the conference tournament. The team currently sits tied for fourth place with The College of Wooster, and will go head-to-head to secure their spot on Saturday afternoon at 1pm. Before the game, the team will also honor Hammer and the five other seniors.

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