Penny is currently a junior at Wellesley College pursuing a degree in Biological Sciences. Her primary research interests lie in investigation of dopaminergic neurons related to reward learning and how changes in internal state such as dehydration or genetic silencing modulate external behavior. At Wellesley, Penny works in the Wasserman Lab where they investigate how changes in internal and external states modulate how Drosophila identify salient stimuli during tethered flight. At Oxford, she is working in the Waddell Group with MBONs (Mushroom Body Output Neurons) in regard to learning and memory in Drosophila using fly on ball experiments. She believes that research on these internal systems are important as they can allow researchers to make informed hypotheses about broader behavior in nature. Penny is excited to work in the Hong Lab this summer to blend her background with Drosophila and current developing research of the lab.
