Hard work results in reward for Microbiology student

A Microbiology student has been commended by a national society for impressive coursework during her third year at GCU.

Now in her fourth year, Joanna Toomey was recognised by the Microbiology Society, which is based in the UK and has 5500 member worldwide.

She won the ‘Undergraduate Microbiology Prize 2020’ after being nominated by Dr Ryan Kean on behalf of GCU’s Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

Joanna said: “It was nice to have something to show for my work during third year. I wasn’t expecting it and was surprised when I got the email. I’ve not really had much work experience due to the pandemic so it’ll be good to have this on my CV for the future.

The recognition mainly came for my Microbial Genomes module. We had a few tests throughout and there was also lab work. The final exam was two 30 mark essays and four 10 mark essays.”

As a result of her success, Joanna was given a year’s free membership to the society, a letter from the president and a certificate documenting her achievement.

She said: “It was quite a personal letter that I was sent, so it was really nice to get something like that.

I was looking on the website the other day and there’s so much information available to me now as a member. They’ve got loads of interesting journals which will obviously help me with my studies and then there are also upcoming events I can get involved with.”

Joanna added: “I’m hoping to continue the good work throughout my final year. I’m not entirely sure what I want to do with my life but I’m hoping to do a Masters in the near future and go from there.”

By Ross Clark
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