Lauren Bartel is a Harvard undergraduate and research scientist pursuing a concentration in organismic and evolutionary biology, a secondary in anthropology, and a language citation in Italian.Lauren is a member of both the Edwards and Evolutionary Neuroscience Labs at Harvard University and has been a funded scientific researcher in zoology and botany at world-renowned laboratories, a grant writer and recipient, a published author and visual artist, and a high-impact driver of positive social and environmental change. Her groundbreaking research findings in botanical propagation have been published in a peer-reviewed science journal. She has also worked on exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History.Lauren has created, developed, and led several organizations and programs in life sciences, museology, the arts and humanities, and child literacy and education. She has been a vocal ecological advocate testifying before local, state, and federal agencies on biosphere protection and sustainability, including as a member of the Washington Summit on the Environment and co-leader of the nationwide Youth Climate Summit. Lauren's literary works, essays, visual artwork, and photography have won national and international awards, including the Claes Nobel Research & Academic Paper Scholarship, the Scholastic Art & Writing Award, and the Writer's Digest Creative Writing Award. She has been featured and her art and literary works have appeared in over two dozen magazines, anthologies, journals, and podcasts.For her leadership, volunteerism, and contributions, Lauren has twice won the President's Volunteer Service Award and has been the recipient of the National Community Service Award, the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, and the Congressional Award Medal, among other international and national honors. She has also won Harvard's top student leadership honor, the Veritas Award, presented for academic excellence, leadership, and contributions to student life.A Coca-Cola Scholar among nearly 20 different merit and achievement grants and scholarships, Lauren’s passions include biological and environmental sciences, creative arts, natural history, and world cultures.Lauren's life vision is to obtain a PhD and lead impactful research, scholarship, university teaching, and museum curation in evolutionary biology, be a generational science communicator, and combine the sciences and the arts as a source of inspiration and impact in the service of education and protecting the natural world and its sustainable coexistence with humankind.