Alysha Harris

Hi! I’m Alysha. I am a third-year biology student at the University of Guelph. I love the outdoors and spend lots of time skating, skiing, fishing and hiking. I think that my love of nature is what ultimately lead me to pursue a career in biology, I wanted to understand the organisms around me.

I am also pursuing a minor in music here at Guelph. I have enjoyed the opportunities here to develop as both a musician and a scientist. Currently I have the privilege of being part of a performance group that prepares and performs scenes from music theatre and opera. I am also a part of the applied music program at Guelph, so I will be presenting a third-year recital in the spring. I have had the chance to sing with the Gryphon Singers for the past few years which has been a very enriching experience. I am also a voice and piano teacher for children and adults.

Someone in the science world who has inspired me is Rachel Carson (1907-1964). Originally a wildlife biologist, Carson wrote several books including “The Edge of the Sea” and “Silent Spring”. She became very important to the global environmental movement. I am so inspired by Carson because she used her education and deep understanding of the world around us to inform the public of the great changes that need to be made to save our planet.

Often, we forget to share our knowledge in a way that the general public can understand, and this results in a lot of misinformation. I hope to pursue a career in research, but I also hope that in my career I can find a way to make science more accessible to everyone. I would love to study the relationships between animal behaviour and physiology. I have found learning about both fields in-class to be fascinating. I love to see the ways in which different aspects of an organism fit together perfectly to make it what it is.

I am fluent in French and, about five years ago, I had the opportunity to go on a three-month exchange to France. I lived there with a family in the horse capital of the country, Chantilly.