Faculty Focus: Jennifer Larimore and Alan Koch

Associate Professor of Biology Jennifer Larimore in the lab using a sheep brain as a model organism to teach students how to identify regions of the brain.

Passing on a Passion for Science

Associate Professor of Biology Jennifer Larimore

Once a month, Agnes Scott College neuroscience majors are invited to Jennifer Larimore’s house for dinner. Larimore, who also invites colleagues in the neuroscience program, cooks for the group.

“It’s a way for us to sit down as a ‘family’ and to demonstrate that we are there for our students,” she says. “It turns the pressure off and allows them to release some steam. We ask a lot of them, and we want them to feel supported every step of the way while they are at Agnes Scott.”

The monthly dinner is just one example of the dedication Larimore, associate professor of biology and co-director of the neuroscience program, has shown in her teaching. Her passion for science is one that she hopes to pass on to her students.

This passion is something Larimore has had since she was young, and she once thought that the only way to combine her love of science and her desire to help people was to become a medical doctor. But after graduating from Asbury University with a degree in biochemistry, she took a job as a research assistant at the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, where she fell in love with research.

“That experience opened my eyes to the other ways in which science can help people,” she says. “Research is problem-solving and creativity. It gave me a new passion.”

Because of this experience, Larimore went to graduate school at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and earned a Ph.D. in neurobiology. After completing post-doctorate work at Emory University and a year teaching at Spelman College, she came to Agnes Scott in 2012.

One of the first things she did was help redesign the introductory biology curriculum based on National Science Foundation Standards. Two years later, she and her colleagues did the same for the neuroscience program.

“In both cases we looked at what key areas we needed to focus on to give students the skills they needed,” she says. “In neuroscience, we wanted students to be able to read, write and present scientifically.”

In graduate school, Larimore began researching how things within a cell move from one place to another. In layperson’s terms, she calls this “the cell’s post office.” She is now extending that research to look at neurodevelopmental disorders—namely schizophrenia and Rett syndrome—to see if there are anomalies within the cells in the brains of those affected with those disorders.

Larimore involves her students in all aspects of her research, and they will continue to assist her with this research project.

“The goal is to have the students get published,” she says. “Our lab has seven published papers with students as authors since my time at Agnes Scott. For our current project, we have already submitted one paper, and we’re waiting to hear if it will be accepted.”

Giving her students an opportunity to participate in research and be published is part of her goal of preparing them for their next step, whether it is continuing their education or starting a job. And she has been successful in achieving this goal.

Since the neuroscience program’s inception in 2010, there have been 89 Scotties who graduated with a neuroscience major. Of these, there are 69 with jobs in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). Also, Larimore says there has been a 95 percent acceptance rate into graduate school, a 69 percent acceptance rate into medical school and 11 alumnae have earned their doctorates.

At the end of the day, Larimore is grateful that she has stayed true to her mission of helping people, in this case Agnes Scott students, through her love of science.

“I feel privileged to literally go alongside students on their life journey and watch them as they come to a place where they understand what gives them passion and joy, and they know where they want to be,” says Larimore. “There is nothing more rewarding than that.”

Making Strides in Mathematics

Professor of Mathematics Alan Koch

Photo: Tom Meyer

When Alan Koch was a third grader at Champlain Elementary School in Burlington, Vermont, his teacher, Mrs. Nicholson, predicted he would be a mathematician someday. At the time, Koch did not know what a mathematician was, but it turns out Mrs. Nicholson was right. Today, he is a professor of mathematics at Agnes Scott College.

As an undergraduate, Koch initially was unsure of whether to major in mathematics or music, since he was taking classes in both; he eventually decided that mathematics would be the best career choice for him. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Vermont, he went on to earn his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Albany. He held teaching positions at several colleges before coming to Agnes Scott College in 2001, where he currently teaches courses on linear algebra, abstract algebra and statistics.

Koch says he tries to get his students excited about math by leading by example.

“I try to teach each course like it’s the most fascinating thing they will see each day,” he says. “And I believe that to be true.”

He also conducts research on number theory, Hopf Galois structures and the Yang-Baxter equation. He has been published multiple times and has presented his work at conferences all over the country. He involves his students in his research whenever he can.

“I’m a big believer in undergraduate research,” he says. “It’s our version of experiential learning.”

Koch takes students to the annual math symposium at Morehouse College in Atlanta, and in 2010 received a mini-grant from the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics, which enabled three Agnes Scott students to do a paid, yearlong research experience under his direction. The project culminated in a trip to present their research at Brigham Young University along with the other grant recipients from colleges all over the country. He now serves as a co-director of the center.

At Agnes Scott, Koch develops specific research projects for students in which they can hone their math and research skills. Some of them have published their work in various academic journals.

As the current recipient of the Joseph R. Gladden Jr. Public Lecture Award, he will discuss the research projects he creates for students, namely looking for patterns in generalizations of the Fibonacci sequence. Koch explains that the Fibonacci sequence is the sequence 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and so on, where every term is the sum of the two previous terms.

The Gladden award was established by the Board of Trustees to honor Joseph R. Gladden Jr., who served as chair of the Agnes Scott board for 10 years, and the award is given each year to a member of the faculty with impressive scholarly activities. As part of the recognition, the recipient receives an honorarium and delivers a public lecture.

“It’s an honor for me to receive the Gladden award,” Koch says. “It’s an acknowledgement that my work is important, and a celebration of what I care most about— working with the students.” Koch’s Gladden lecture will be this February and is open to the Agnes Scott community and the public. Visit agnesscott.edu for information.