Jonathan Behrens, or Jonny, is my graduate student mentor at the Bernhardt Lab. This summer, he’s taught me valuable field work methods and skills. I was excited to learn that he spent 3.5 years as a community organizer when he was an undergraduate. As a fellow organizer, I was thrilled to find somebody else who’s had experience in organizing and wants to use that knowledge to help make science accessible and people-serving. He says he enjoyed the critical thinking skills that organizing requires. Additionally, it helped him build connections with the community and understand his own passions.
Jonny majored in chemistry and minored in environmental studies at UChicago. He worked at a laboratory during his time as an undergraduate, but he didn’t think about pursuing a PhD after graduating. Instead, he worked for a science policy thinktank for the federal government. As Jonny worked, he realized that systemic issues couldn’t be fixed overnight. He wanted to combine his interests in chemistry, environmental science, and community organizing to learn how contaminants get into waterways and find methods to meaningfully address these issues.
Jonny searched for researchers that were answering the questions he was interested in. That is how he met Emily Bernhardt, the lab’s PI. They hit it off well and Jonny became a new member of the Bernhardt lab, where we are now working together! In the future, Jonny says he wouldn’t mind being a professor, but he would prefer being a scientist working for the federal government to help inform policy.
Overall, Jonny is a grounded, results-driven scientist who wants to use his research to address systemic issues such as climate change and environmental degradation.
