Undergraduate student Lily McCloskey and Provost and Executive Vice President Joy Ward recently had the chance to sit down and bond over a common interest: plants.
McCloskey, who cares for more than 20 plants in her off-campus room, and Ward, a widely recognized researcher in plant biology, covered this passion and much more in their recent discussion in the 27th episode of the student-run production, “Just in Case: A CWRU Podcast.”
Backed by a team of about 20 students, the podcast features interviews with people on campus, updates on athletics teams, information about local museums and more. It is an initiative of the Podcast Club, of which McCloskey is president.
McCloskey, a fourth-year student, wished to interview Ward to understand what the role of provost entails—something she suspected many other students wouldn’t know. Ward shared what inspired her to study biology, what her career path looked like, and how she works across campus to improve the academic experience for students and faculty. Listen to the episode with Ward and check out other recent conversations.
McCloskey admits that her work with the podcast has nothing to do with her studies as a biomedical engineering major—but that’s part of what appeals to her most about it.
“I feel like I’ve gotten to explore so many different areas, like personal finance, that I never would have learned about otherwise,” McCloskey said. “It’s also really interesting being on the other side of an interview and I think it’s a good experience for any career field.”
In addition to her studies, McCloskey is a member of the varsity women’s tennis team.
Learn even more about McCloskey below.
Answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
1. What drew you to CWRU?
I knew I wanted to pursue engineering and I also knew I wanted to play college tennis. CWRU seemed like the perfect opportunity to do both of those things at a high level. The opportunities to do research really stood out to me too. When I visited I just got the feeling of being “home.” Everyone was so friendly and I loved the campus; I knew it was the right fit.
2. Why did you decide to get involved with the Just in Case podcast?
The podcast was launched by two students with a passion for podcasting and editing: Ryan Kornblit and Josh Paine. I joined the team with interest in doing an episode with the Cleveland Sight Center, where I volunteered with the blind and visually impaired. I thought it could be a fun activity to do with them, but I soon realized I enjoyed podcasting and creating episodes independent of that as well.
As president of Podcast Club, I now love helping people pursue their passions in the podcasting world, and getting together as a club to chat and have a creative outlet.
3. What’s the most interesting thing about CWRU you’ve learned since hosting the podcast?
The most interesting thing I’ve learned about CWRU since podcasting has been is how diverse everyone’s interests are here. There are so many people that come together with ideas for podcasts with a wide range of topics. In college as you go through your time and focus on your major, your scope of learning naturally narrows. It’s really nice to broaden that scope by talking to all my peers pursuing different majors, careers, and hobbies. Listening to and creating podcasts has shown me all the awesome things everyone is up to!
4. Why did you choose your major?
I chose biomedical engineering because in high school, I loved math and science involving the human body. I was part of a club called “Femineering” in high school and the idea of being an inventor and coming up with creative solutions to problems really resonated with me. As I went on in my educational journey, I also took an interest in biology and the human body.
Halfway through college, I decided to go on the pre-medicine track as I love interacting with and meeting new people, and realized I wanted to pursue a patient-facing career in the world of healthcare instead of more behind the scenes as I had originally thought.
5. What do you hope to do with it in the future?
In the future I hope to attend medical school. I have loved the engineering background; it has been so cool to learn about (and even build) all the different devices, instrumentation and drug-delivery systems that I will one day see in the world of medicine. I hope to apply this knowledge in the field and also expand my knowledge at medical school. It would be an honor to one day help people along their personal health journeys as a physician.
6. Have you been involved in any research on campus?
I was part of the Rodionov Lab starting freshman year. We worked on creating carbon-based catalysts for the carbon dioxide reduction reaction, with future plans of creating a “green material” that could remove greenhouse gas emissions from the environment. We also worked on creating specialized amino-acid based laundry detergents and flame-resistant paint. It was so cool to feel like I was making a real-world impact on the front lines of science right since the start of my college career.
This summer I also represented CWRU as a student in the Harvard Summer Research Program in Kidney Medicine where I did research on the genetic component of pediatric nephrotic syndrome at Boston Children’s Hospital.
7. How long have you been playing tennis? What do you enjoy about the sport?
I have been playing tennis since I was five years old. I love how there is so much strategy involved in the game and how every match is different. It’s almost like a puzzle trying to figure out your opponent’s weaknesses and how to win even if you’re not on top of your game that day. I also love how you can lose almost 50 points in a row and still come back and win a match—it’s taught me so much about grit and never giving up. Now in college on a team it is so fun to travel together and cheer everyone on too.
8. What’s been your best moment on the CWRU women’s tennis team?
My favorite moment on the tennis team was my freshman year when we won our first round match at the UAA championships against WashU. It was the first time in program history that we had won that match.
Everyone was losing in their singles matches, but we all rallied together and fought back and ended up competing to see who could clinch the match first. A fellow freshman won the deciding point and we all ran onto the court and celebrated. Definitely a match I will never forget.
Becoming an All-American, with my partner Hannah Kassaie, for the first time at freshman NCAAs was also a huge highlight.
9. Are you involved on campus in any other way?
I have been involved in Spartanthon Dance Marathon—a club where we raise money for Rainbow Babies by hosting a 12 hour dance marathon along with other events—since freshman year. Participating in the 5k Color Run and choreographing the dance marathon boogie have been some highlights. I am also a TA for Math 122: Calc II with Chris Butler.