Lauren Velie

Lauren is a native Cape Codder, growing up in Eastham, Massachusetts. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology along with a minor in Natural Resources Conservation. Her undergraduate thesis focused on plant homeostasis mechanisms through S-nitrosylated protein expression and activity modeled in A. thaliana. At UMass she spread her focus across both molecular plant systems and larger ecosystem- and anthropological-based understandings of the natural world, working with the Indigenous group the I-Collective to gather and document Indigenous recipes in an open-source cookbook. After college, Lauren worked in the Boston biotech scene engineering viral capsids to develop a self-assembling protein nanoparticle (PNP) that encapsulates and delivers RNA cargoes. At Dartmouth, she hopes to further explore the molecular mechanisms by which proteins and complexes assemble, adapt, and function. Outside of the lab, Lauren enjoys painting, yoga, hiking, baking, traveling, and designing new tattoos with her twin sister.