Lauren McCrystal

Lauren is a first year master’s student in the ABBS program, and she is from East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Lauren graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2024 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Animal Sciences. Lauren graduated Summa Cum Laude and was awarded the University Academic Excellence Award. While at the University of Rhode Island, Lauren worked as an undergraduate research student where she worked to extract metabolites from bovine pancreas tissue to understand the role of maternal nutrition during pregnancy. Lauren also worked as a veterinary technician where she learned many hands-on skills and animal techniques.

Lauren has been working as a teaching assistant for various classes at UMass Amherst, including One Health, Animal Anatomy and Physiology lab, Biotechnology lab, and Introduction to Animal Management. Lauren’s project in the Arcaro lab involves measuring telomere length to assess changes in human milk samples. Lauren is interested in identifying how telomere length changes based on factors such as having a BRCA mutation.

In her free time, Lauren enjoys spending time with her cat Peter, cooking, being with friends and loved ones, and spending time outdoors.