“Tough As a Nail” Biology Student Finds Life Purpose in Research Opportunities

By BARBARA MARTIN MORO/ Staff Writer

Editor’s note: This article is the second in a series about interesting research being done at UT Tyler.

From taking care of ants as a lab volunteer to studying the effects of nanoplastics on the French Mediterranean coast, Kennedi Davis seems to have done it all. Davis is a UT Tyler biology graduate student, research assistant, and teaching assistant. Her tenacity and determination to embrace every challenge in her path have been the admiration of many. 

THE JOURNEY

According to Davis, her researching journey started during her freshman year, when one of her professors announced to the class that he was looking for volunteers to help in the lab. 

For Dr. Lance Williams, chair of the biology department at UT Tyler, Davis’ journey started much earlier, on the first day he met her. That was when Davis, who was still in high school at the time, came into the biology department for a visit with her parents, who wanted a tour. 

“She had a tremendous amount of dual credit, but she didn’t take any sciences, so it was a challenge. She was in her first semester; I remember she was in my biogeography class, which is a senior-level class, and general biology at the same time, which is supposed to be a prerequisite, but I carefully picked classes, and I thought she could test to see whether she could handle the junior/senior-level classes. So, I put her in my class; I knew she was already an exceptional student, and she was almost better than every other student in the class,” Williams said. 

SUMMER PROJECT

At the end of Davis’ freshman year, Williams asked Davis whether she wanted to help him with a project during the summer. Williams had received a grant to investigate the potential of ponds for recreational fishing at two military bases in West Texas and had seen the brilliance of his student.

“What we do is very physically demanding. 12 to 14 hours a day in the hot sun, two or three days in a row of it, usually, and so not everyone can do that. I usually tell students, if you are going to work for me, you need to be able to squat on a log in the middle of a river and lift a kayak over your head,” Williams said.

“She [Davis] is tough as a nail,” he added. 

Davis agreed, and got involved in Williams’ research project through Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation. This is a program that assists “universities and colleges in diversifying the nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce.”

For Davis, this was her first time formally doing research. At the end of the summer, she presented a poster about the project she worked on with Williams. Her presentation won third, and LSAMP paid her a stipend of $4,000 for her work. 

RESEARCH IN FRANCE

Davis found out that LSAMP also has a study abroad program, in which students selected can do research in a laboratory abroad. Once selected, the students must find a laboratory that would be willing to let them work in their location, and then LSAMP will cover the rest of the expenses. Davis applied to this program and was selected to participate in a research project abroad. After reaching out to several laboratories around the world, the Institut de la Mer de Villefranche in France took her in.

When Davis arrived, the laboratory was studying how nanoparticles, which are microscopic particles of plastic in the environment, affect ascidians, a kind of fish physiologically similar to human beings. Although the nanoparticles were changing the fish’s structure, the team determined that they were not being genetically changed, which ruled out genotoxicity. From Monday to Friday, Davis was doing research inside the four walls of the laboratory, a way of working new to her. 

“It was cool to get lab experience because everything I’ve done has been outside, like with the fish in ponds all summer. And then, all this past summer, I’ve been in wetlands also. We’re looking at plants. So usually, I’m outside doing research, but being able to be inside and working with a microscope and doing cellular research was really interesting,” Davis said. 

Williams thinks this experience helped Davis understand her focus in the field of biology. 

“I’m not sure that she really knew what she wanted to do until then. I think she wanted to do research, but I don’t think she had settled on what direction her career was going to go,” Williams said. 

At the end of her time in France, Davis again prepared a poster and a presentation for the LSAMP conference and was granted second place. 

THE FUTURE

Davis graduated from UT Tyler with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in spring of 2023. She has recently started her master’s program in biology at UT Tyler, where she works as Professor Jared Dickson’s teaching assistant.

Dickson and Davis are working together on a research project surveying and comparing agriculture, restored, or constructed wetlands to determine if they are working like the natural ones. Davis’ focus on the project is on plant surveys. Dickson highlighted the importance of her job and said that vegetation is the primary way in which distinct types of wetlands are classified. 

“She is extremely motivated. She has no issues getting in the field and getting dirty and muddy. Her work ethic in the field is excellent, and that carries over to the classroom as well,” Dickson said. 

For Davis, the key to success is embracing every opportunity a student may come across, no matter how small it is. 

“I almost didn’t accept the ant offer. But he asked us, and like a week later, I was like, ‘Oh, you still have volunteer positions?’ [And] he said, ‘I’ve got one left.’ (…) So, I pondered it for like a week; I was unsure about it. And I did it. It opened up a line of communication to a lot of different professors in this department, which got me that link to be able to do research over the summer,” Davis said. 

Right now, Davis’ attention is on her studies at UT Tyler, her students whom she mentors, and her research on West Texas wetlands. She has discovered her love for the academic world, and one thing she knows for sure is that she wants more. After finishing her master’s degree, she plans to get her PhD, keep doing research, and one day have her own lab.