#  On the Path to Research, Teach, and Curate 

 





May 12, 2026

 

 

     ![a person standing in front of a museum case filled with bird specimens](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-06/Lauren%20Bartel_HMSC%20copy.jpg?itok=VMbLXGPe) 

Lauren Bartel ’26 in the Harvard Museum of Natural History. *Courtesy of Harvard Museums of Science & Culture*



 



 

The [*FAS Current* ](https://current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/path-research-teach-and-curate)featured Lauren Bartel, IB Concentrator in Scott Edwards Lab, who joined the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture student board as a first-year and stayed her full four years helping to increase public understanding and appreciation for the natural world, science, and human cultures.

Lauren's work in the Edwards Lab led to a senior thesis that provided one of the first direct measurements of large-scale DNA mutations in any wild vertebrate. The work focused on families of Florida scrub-jays, revealing how genetic change emerges across generations, advancing evolutionary theory and conservation biology.



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Ornithology ](/news/ornithology)