Graduate Profile: Anna Springsteen
Most people get the willies when they think of spiders, but former Alma College student Anna Springsteen learned to suppress that reaction.
Springsteen conducted research on the eight-legged creatures for biology professor David Clark, known to many as “Spiderman.” In that time Springsteen collected, photographed, dissected and even taken the temperature of countless crab and wolf spiders, the focus of the study.
Springsteen’s research opportunity began in her Invertebrate Biology class with Clark. After her confession that she “liked dissecting things,” Clark asked Springsteen about her interest in spiders, intending to involve her in his National Science Foundation research grant for the study of spiders. Then a sophomore at Alma, Springsteen agreed, surprised at the chance to conduct at the College what is graduate-level research at many universities.
The opportunity also presented a chance to work one-on-one with a professor, as she had seen other Alma students do. “The professors at Alma are great,” she says. “You can talk to them anytime, discuss your research. They’re interested.”
While Springsteen didn’t share Clark’s strong affinity for spiders, she didn’t fear them either. In fact, Springsteen realized that through her research she had acquired true respect for the creatures, which she dubbed “one of the greatest predators ever.” Though she never envisioned herself working with spiders, she said that, “As I learned more about them, I had a better appreciation for spiders, and other organisms as well.”
Through her research she also became a National Science Foundation Fellow in 2004 and presented her spider research both at Alma’s Honor’s Day and at the Michigan Academy, an annual conference where undergraduate students present their original research.
When she wasn’t working in the biology department, Springsteen stayed active on campus through Students United for Nature, a student organization promoting and raising awareness of sound environmental policies on campus. She also was involved in Alma’s Vote Environment activities, part of a nationwide non-partisan student-led campaign that encouraged college-aged student voter registration to make the environment a priority in the recent presidential election.
Springsteen was a three-year member of the women’s soccer team at Alma. She also shared another of her passions, creative writing, through public readings and in Alma’s student literary publications.
