01
February
2023
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13:18 PM
America/Chicago

Bellevue University Biology Program Prepares Alumna for Real World

Danielle Baldi is the first in her family to get a college degree.

In fact, she now holds two of them.

In 2003, she earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Bellevue University, where she also met her husband. The couple now has five children together.

When their youngest turned 4 years old, Baldi decided to return to school to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biology.

“It seemed like an easy choice to go back to Bellevue, as my first experience was really great, and the labs had undergone a huge renovation since I had been there before and were very impressive,” Baldi said. “I chose biology because I initially wanted to go into the healthcare field, but after spending a lot of time in the labs, I decided I wanted to continue to do lab science.”

She felt her experiences in Bellevue University’s labs were invaluable.

“I would not have gotten the job I did without it,” she said. “I feel very capable and able to jump into my new career because of the time I spent in and out of class at Bellevue.”

My research projects focused on cellular immune response to a mock virus (which was my favorite project) and some molecular research that involved collecting DNA from soil samples and sequencing them to find out what kind of bacterial changes had happened in the soil in the native planted area behind the Sustainability Lab.

Danielle Baldi, Bellevue University Alumna

That career, which Baldi started after graduating in fall 2022, is as an associate scientist at Merck Animal Health – a research-driven company that develops, manufactures and markets veterinary medicines and services.

One thing that especially equipped Baldi for her role at Merck was her undergraduate research experience.

“My research projects focused on cellular immune response to a mock virus (which was my favorite project) and some molecular research that involved collecting DNA from soil samples and sequencing them to find out what kind of bacterial changes had happened in the soil in the native planted area behind the Sustainability Lab,” she explained. “Both of these things are equipping me for my current role, as I will be doing a lot of cellular and DNA work.”

Baldi shared that she thoroughly enjoyed all her professors within Bellevue University’s biology program, particularly Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Tyler Moore.

“He poured so much into my education, and I know so much about biology because of him,” she said.

In the future, Baldi plans to develop as a professional at Merck and eventually return to school to pursue a master’s degree in biology.

“I am sincerely grateful for my time at Bellevue, and I know the professors are the reason why,” she said. “That has always been what has drawn me to Bellevue. Sure, you have class time, but the real learning happens in labs.”

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