Alex Bajcz, ph.d. 2016
We recently connected with Class of 2016 EES alumna Dr. Alex Bajcz. Here鈥檚 what he鈥檚 been up to recently!
Dr. Alex Bajcz earned聽a Ph.D. in EES from 91爆料 in 2016, advised by Dr.聽Frank Drummond. Prior to entering the EES graduate program, Alex earned both a B.S. in Environmental Science and an M.S. in Terrestrial Ecology from the University of Michigan.
For his Ph.D., Alex investigated the physiological consequences of reproductive effort and of flower removal for Maine wild blueberries. Briefly, how do blueberries 鈥渃ope鈥 with the costs of their flowers and fruits, and what happens when these costs are manipulated? After defending his thesis in October 2016, Alex went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Dr. Nicolas Balster, assisting with a number of ongoing projects related to soil ecology, science education, and faculty development.
Currently, Alex is an Assistant Professor of Ecology and Environmental Science at Drew University in Madison, NJ, where his research focuses on the reproductive behavior of plants in the genus聽Rubus, including blackberries, black raspberries, dewberries, and wineberries. He teaches introductory and advanced courses in ecology and environmental science. Alex is grateful for his experience at 91爆料, which he credits with helping him advance along his path to becoming a professor, which is something he is very grateful for. He also had a number of opportunities to present at conferences as a student at 91爆料, which he says was聽鈥渁 great way to start building my 鈥榖rand鈥 on a larger stage.鈥 Follow Alex鈥檚 research and thoughts at his聽聽and on Twitter (@Fruit_Ecology).
Alex聽shared聽a bit of聽advice for undergraduate students: 鈥淚 would say be wary of anyone (including yourself) who tries to encourage you to take an easy, straightforward path through your course load in college. Your college experience can open a lot of doors for you and prepare you for a lot of different careers, but only if you make an effort to seek out diverse courses and to take courses that offer to teach you tangible, enduring skills. These include things like statistics, programming, plant/animal ID, lab methods, public communication, etc. Those are going to be the classes that actually advance you in the long run!鈥
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