As a Paul Laurence Dunbar High School student, Gareth ("Gary") Voss came to the University of Kentucky to do research on the regenerative abilities of salamanders in Dr. Randal Voss's lab. Gary says, "At Dunbar in the Math-Science program, we have to join a faculty member at UK for a research project by the beginning of our junior year. And I heard about a professor at UK, who shared the same last name and the same first name, more or less, as my dad and his name is Randall Voss and he studies salamanders and regeneration.Things kind of clicked and I’ve been there ever since."

Gary's high-school project focused on tail regeneration. He notes, "I was not allowed to do any of the surgeries to remove the tails, but I was able to do the data analysis on the tails, and do a lot of interesting things in studying the regeneration of the salamanders."

Gary is now a freshman at UK majoring in biology and chemistry, and he says getting started early in research is really an advantage. "Getting started early gets you exposed to all the things you need to know. I was exposed to more things in genetics than most people my age would have been. Working in the lab not only puts you on the cutting edge of research and science, but it also lets you see all the things your classes are talking about in person, and to a greater extent."

Produced by Alicia P. Gregory (Research Communications), videography/direction by Chad Rumford (Research Communications)

For more information on Dr. Voss' lab, please visit ambystoma.org/

This video appears courtesy of Reveal: University of Kentucky Research Media research.uky.edu/reveal/index.shtml