Andrea Lo’s personal research projects in Denmark involve collecting and analyzing samples to compare the conditions of two lagoons on the island of Fyn. Photo courtesy of Andrea Lo.
Written by Lillian Eden
With a minor in literature and environmental sustainability, the biology alumna considers perspectives from Charles Darwin to Annie Dillard.
Growing up in Los Angeles about 10 minutes away from the Ballona Wetlands, Andrea Lo ’21 has long been interested in ecology. She witnessed, in real-time, the effects of urbanization and the impacts that development had on the wetlands.
“In hindsight, it really helped shape my need for a career — and a life — where I can help improve my community and the environment,” she says.
Lo, who majored in biology at MIT, says a recurring theme in her life has been the pursuit of balance, valuing both extracurricular and curricular activities. She always felt an equal pull toward STEM and the humanities, toward wet lab work and field work, and toward doing research and helping her community.
“One of the most important things I learned in 7.30[J] (Fundamentals of Ecology) was that there are always going to be trade-offs. That’s just the way of life,” she says. “The biology major at MIT is really flexible. I got a lot of room to explore what I was interested in and get a good balance overall, with humanities classes along with technical classes.”
Lo was drawn to MIT because of the focus on hands-on work — but many of the activities Lo was hoping to do, both extracurricular and curricular, were cut short because of the pandemic, including her lab-based Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) project. Read more here…