Emma Letcher

Emma graduated from the New School in May 2019 with a degree in anthropology and interdisciplinary science. Her research is focused on the intersections of social and natural sciences as they apply to policy making and advocacy. She became involved with Smyth Labs as a student in Microbiome of the Urban Environment, where she looked at the ability of different surfaces to foster growth for pathogenic bacteria. As a member of the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, she combined qualitative and quantitative methods to to look at the antibacterial characteristics of microorganisms in various types of honey, as well as the impacts of urban beekeeping on communities in New York City.

Emma’s paper “Hitchhikers in Honey: An investigation of the inhibitory mechanisms of bacteria found in honey” was published in the Journal of Student Research in December of 2019.