![\"Student](\"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/05\/Grace-Minge-507-1-285x300.jpeg\")
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Hello! My name is Grace, I just finished my second year of veterinary school at the U of I (halfway done!) and am very excited to be back in the field with the Kane County team for my second summer.<\/p>\n
As for a little bit about me: I grew up in a small town in southern Missouri called West Plains, where I spent a majority of my childhood enjoying the great outdoors in the beautiful Ozarks via floating, hiking, hunting, fishing, and more. After high school, I moved to Springfield, Missouri where I completed a BS in Biology at Missouri State University. During my 6 years in Springfield, I held many different jobs but more importantly, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Johnny Morris Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium educating guests on the unique species housed there, with the Missouri Department of Conservation sampling crappie populations, and at the local watershed where I helped with invasive plant species removal. I also had the opportunity to take a marine ichthyology course through the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Mississippi where I had my first experience with the endangered Gulf Sturgeon, which is what led me to my dreams of helping endangered species populations. The goals of the Wildlife Epidemiology Lab here at U of I Vet Med align with my personal goals, and I get to live out my dreams by being involved in aquatic turtle research and working directly with the endangered Blanding\u2019s turtle population in northern Illinois.<\/p>\n
Outside of the lab, I am also a volunteer at the Wildlife Medical Clinic, a Student Ambassador, and a member of various clubs. I enjoy spending the little free time I have hanging out with my cat, Ghost. After graduation, I would like to go into small animal general practice and gain experience as a clinician, but will hopefully be able to integrate my love for working with wildlife into my career.<\/p>\n
I am looking forward to spending quality time with the marsh and am excited to share our adventures in Kane County!<\/p>\n
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Hello! My name is Sophia, and I am a 2026 graduate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I am extremely excited for the Kane County aquatic field season this summer!<\/p>\n
I grew up in Oak Forest, a southern suburb of Chicago, where I spent much of my childhood outdoors, camping with my family and developing an early appreciation for nature, which has allowed me to visit 27 states throughout the US. After high school, I attended UIUC, where I completed a Bachelor’s in Integrative Biology Honors with a Minor in Chemistry, following the pre-veterinary track. During my undergraduate years, I was involved in several organizations that shaped my time there, including Habitat for Humanity, the Illini Kitten Club, and serving as a peer leader for the School of Integrative Biology.<\/p>\n
The most meaningful part of my undergraduate experience, however, has been my time with the Wildlife Epidemiology Lab. The lab’s collaborative and welcoming environment made it easy to feel at home, and I have been grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the box turtle team last summer and a research project exploring pooled DNA extractions. This work has allowed me to connect my interest in conservation with my broader passion for exotic and wildlife species.<\/p>\n
Outside of academics, I enjoy working out, thrifting, and spending time with family, friends, and my two dogs, Odie and Greysie. After graduation, I plan to apply to veterinary school, with the goal of practicing in small animal and exotic general medicine.<\/p>\n
I look forward to sharing the adventure that is to come in the marsh this summer at Kane County!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shell We Begin? Meet Grace! Hello! My name is Grace, I just finished my second year of veterinary school at the U of I (halfway done!) and am very excited to be back in the field with the Kane County team for my second summer. As for a little bit about me: I grew up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1592,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1592"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6564"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6665,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6564\/revisions\/6665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}