When 2015 graduate Eyerusalem Lemma began her undergraduate degree at St. Thomas, she had no idea birds were going to play such an important role in her education.

But after signing on to a research project with biology professor Sarah Heimovics, Lemma found herself putting in countless hours in the lab, researching the role of hormones on European Starling singing behavior.

“She’s functioning more like a first- or second-year graduate student in my lab than she is as an undergraduate researcher,” Heimovics said. “And everybody starts very green and very naive, but she demonstrated early on how bright and independent and motivated she is.”

Although Heimovics said it’s a leap, Lemma’s work with gene expression in European Starling brain tissue could have implications for autism research. The differences between goal-directed communication, such as asking for water, and non goal-directed communication, such as expressing feelings for someone, could help explain why people on the autism spectrum may have a hard time communicating when there is no goal in mind.

“There’s so much of the brain that we don’t know, so I think any understanding of it is really important,” Lemma said.

Heimovics, who supervised Lemma’s research, said Lemma is one of the most senior students in the lab and that her work turned out well and may even be published.

“It’s a beautiful data set. I’m really proud of her, it’s really exciting,” Heimovics said.

More than a year’s worth of research paid off when Lemma was accepted to the Nebraska Medical Center’s cancer research program, where she hopes to get her Ph.d.

“My goal would be to work in a university, teach courses and also research at the same time,” Lemma said. “I want to be a cancer researcher, but ultimately I’d like to be a professor.”

Heimovics said she has no doubts that Lemma’s future is bright.

“She’s been a dream to have in the lab. She’s cheerful and easy to be around and really quite adept at this technique, so it’s been fantastic,” Heimovics said. “She’s a really special young lady.”

Baihly Warfield can be reached at warf3860@stthomas.edu.