When Seren Castellano is having a bad day and needs to relax and get her mind right, you won’t find her in the same places as other college students.

She goes to the research lab.

“When I’m having a bad day or I’m really exhausted, I like doing research because it gives me energy and makes me really happy,” says the third-year honors student from Waukee, Iowa. “I can be there for hours, and by the end of it, I feel a lot better.”

Castellano, who is pursuing a double major in biology and anthropology and a minor in ancient civilizations, on March 28 learned she had received the 2025 Goldwater Scholarship, the country’s premiere undergraduate scholarship for students pursuing research careers in mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering. 

In addition to her heavy class schedule, Castellano conducts research in two labs: the Neiman Lab under the direction of professor of biology Maurine Neiman, and the Evolutionary Anthropology lab under the direction of Drew Kitchen, associate professor of anthropology. 

Castellano’s enthusiasm for science, along with independence, determination, and a team spirit, set her apart from other students, Neiman says.

“She’s fearless and also incredibly curious,” Neiman says. “Seren has a remarkable growth mentality and combines fierce strength with the ability to be open and vulnerable. She makes everyone around her better, and her enthusiasm for science and life is contagious.”

Kitchen says one of Castellano’s remarkable traits is her initiative, including seeking out work in areas where she lacks expertise.

“This is how Seren ended up working with my group, which is entirely computational,” Kitchen says. “She already had some wet-lab experience and wanted to experience a dry lab to gain computational expertise, so she sought out a position in my group.” 

At Iowa, nearly 1 in 3 undergraduate students participate in research before graduation. Castellano serves as an ambassador for the Office of Undergraduate Research and encourages more students to get involved.

“You can learn so much by doing hands-on work on a project,” she says. “I learn new things every day, and I have gotten so many opportunities from doing research. You really grow as an individual, and that’s really helpful, especially after you graduate.”

Castellano also is part of the UI-MARC program, a training program that supports third- and fourth-year students who are committed to pursuing a PhD or combined MD/PhD program after completing their undergraduate degree.

Castellano’s career goal is to is to teach evolution, genetics, or gross anatomy, and to operate her own research lab — all after obtaining a PhD. Or perhaps she’ll work in the private sector. While that’s unclear for now, what she knows for certain is, “I just love evolution and genetics, and I know I would be happy with any kind of job I get out of it.”

Castellano says Iowa is the perfect fit for her academic and research interests, and its proximity to home allows her to remain in close touch with her family, including three younger sisters. She says she visited campus twice before deciding to enroll.

“I didn’t know it at the time that this was one of the best places for me to be to grow as a researcher and a scientist,” she says. “I’m really happy I chose Iowa.”

Castellano’s research

In Maurine Neiman’s lab: Understanding whether, how, and why snails sleep. This is important work because we still don’t understand why animals need to sleep, Neiman says. 

“It’s really a bizarre behavior: While sleeping, an organism isn’t eating or mating or doing any of the things it needs to do to stay alive, and is vulnerable to threats like predators. The fact that most, if not all animals — including humans — sleep suggests it must be incredibly important. By characterizing sleeping behavior in our snails, Seren is making one of the only forays into the study of sleep in mollusks. It’s really challenging to study behavior in organisms that are so different than we are, like snails, because we just can’t relate to their experiences. Seren has had to be very creative and patient to make any progress. She has now demonstrated that our snails sleep, but we’re still working on why. Figuring out the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of sleeping behavior across animal diversity will be a fundamental part of deciphering the mystery of sleep, so Seren is making a key contribution in this way.” 

In Drew Kitchen’s lab: Understanding the evolution of infectious disease and understanding and interpreting the evolutionary history of microbes (microscopic living organisms that can be seen only under a microscope).

“Seren is studying a group of viruses called polyomaviruses. These viruses are interesting because scientists think they evolve in two opposite ways: quickly over short periods of time but also slowly over long periods of time. This is confusing and needs to be figured out. Polyomaviruses use their hosts (like humans) to make copies of themselves. Because of this, they might evolve at the same speed as their hosts. For humans, this would mean evolving over tens of thousands of years. But polyomaviruses have very small genomes (their genetic material), and scientists have noticed that microbes with small genomes usually evolve faster, in just decades or centuries. Understanding what controls the speed of evolution is a big question in biology. It's important for knowing how life changes and diversifies. Seren's work is helping to explore this important question.

“Seren is now working on a practical research question: How do germs that are resistant to medicine spread between animals and humans? These resistant germs can survive even when we use medicine to try to kill them. They can spread through direct contact or through things like meat, milk, or the environment. By comparing the genetic material (genomes) of resistant and nonresistant germs from humans, livestock (farm animals), and pets, scientists hope to understand how germs infecting different animals and humans become resistant. This research is important for figuring out how to stop the spread of these tough germs."