Biology has always been a long-term passion for Laura Hake, a professor in the biology department. From a young age, she recalls an eagerness to explore the world around her. Her elementary school experiences with science, including making her own barometer and cleaning out the science storeroom in third grade, were only the beginning of what would become a love and, ultimately, a career for Hake.
A native of eastern Tennessee, Hake recalls driving around with her father the summer after her high school graduation and telling him that she wanted to work in a science lab. Both of her parents were very supportive and always encouraged Hake to pursue her interests, so her father introduced her to a former biology professor working as the chairman of the zoology department at the University of Tennessee, which was where she would begin studying for her undergraduate degree in the fall. "I became a lab rat," Hake says, but it was not a label that bothered her. It helped her to create an identity in a school of 40,000 students, where it was easy to get lost in the crowd.
It was in her junior and senior years of college that Hake became interested in cell biology, an area that she still studies today. After earning her undergraduate degree, Hake went on to Tufts University and received her graduate and doctorate degrees. Afterwards, she went on to do a post-doctorate study at the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research, where she studied the development of egg cells in frogs, specifically how the egg transitions from a resting state to a state of extremely rapid development in a very short period of time.
Hake searched for jobs across the country, receiving offers from various universities, including medical schools. But she wanted to stay in the area, so when she was offered a research and teaching position at Boston College, she took it. "I feel like I can provide opportunities for students to become interested in science research early," Hake says, who also decided on BC because of the opportunity to establish an active, nationally funded research program. She continues to research how the egg transitions from a resting state to an active state and is developing a program to study environmental endocrine disruptors.
Hake came to BC in 1997 and now, 11 years later, she is teaching introductory biology, graduate research seminars, and a freshman topic seminar that focuses on sustainability. She also taught developmental biology until 1999 and is planning a course called Sustaining the Biosphere, which will satisfy the natural science core requirement.
Hake says that her philosophy on teaching has evolved greatly since she started at BC. "It's very important in the classroom to have interactive engagement and discussion with students," Hake says. To actively involve students in a class upwards of 200 people, Hake uses iClickers to test understanding and creates molecules out of her students to explain concepts. Other aspects of Hake's active learning philosophy include online homework assignments that correspond to the textbook which, she says, is like a "built-in Socratic method." She also has her students form an opinion on something before she lectures on it. "They get more of this 'aha' moment because they already committed to an opinion," she says. In addition, she encourages her students to form study groups so that they can talk about how they arrived at their answers. This equips them with the ability to use different methods to figure things out on tests and other homework assignments.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Hake is also a faculty member of Sustain BC, an organization that discusses sustainability and what we can do to live sustainably at school. She says of sustainability, "Students must be conscious of the influence they have on other people and the planet, and must make choices in their lives that keep that sensibility centered. Sustainability is a way to think. We need to be aware of our immediate actions on the world. Everybody has a voice in shaping what BC needs to offer in sustainability."
In addition to Hake's love for biology and commitment to raising awareness about sustainability, she enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband have a son, Ben, who turns 3 in February. "We adopted him when he was one month old. I spend most of my time with him when I'm not here," Hake says. She also enjoys canoeing, yoga, and other aerobics to keep her brain and her body active, and she worked on the campaign for Barack Obama.
Hake truly brings her passion for biology and for exploring into the classroom. "Try a lot of things and realize that you can always change your mind," she says to her students. "Follow your heart and do what makes you feel that you are contributing to the world.
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