At St. Joseph’s, Sashoy Milton immersed herself in all things science. She took a wide range of biology classes, participated in the campus’ undergraduate symposium, and had her first glimpse at the fascinating world of environmental toxicology while researching alongside Kestrel Perez, Ph.D.
Milton said her formative experiences in the Brooklyn Campus’ biology department played a big role in leading her to her latest academic journey: studying Ecotoxicology and Environment Health at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.
“At St. Joseph’s, we have the ability to work one on one with professors and truly deep dive and explore our interests,” said Milton, who graduated from the Brooklyn Campus in 2020 with a biology degree. “I did not know environmental toxicology was such a broad and diverse field before working with Dr. Perez, and without the experience of working with her, I am not sure I would be at Duke today.”
Dr. Perez, a marine scientist and an associate professor of biology at the Brooklyn Campus, often gives undergraduate students the opportunity to assist with her experiments in the Burns Hall laboratory or piggy-back off her experiments and conduct their own research.
Milton began working in the lab with Dr. Perez during her sophomore year, collecting data on fish retrieved from the Great South Bay, Jamaica Bay and other waterways. She eventually began conducting her own research on feed efficiency, which she presented at the Undergraduate Research Symposium as a junior in 2019.
With Dr. Perez’s guidance, Milton received a research position at SUNY Upstate during the summer of 2019 and secured a research grant to continue studying the topic in her senior year.
Now, in Duke’s Jayasundara lab, Milton works on a Bass Connections Project called “A City and Its River,” which involves using fish behavior to evaluate water contamination levels of the local watershed.
An All-Around Scholar
At St. Jospeh’s University, Milton often got involved outside the classroom — whether it was leading the student body as SGA vice president or supporting her peers at other club’s events.
She continues to nurture her passion for getting involved in her community today.
At Duke’s Nicholas School, she works as a graduate assistant in the Center for Multicultural Affairs, participates in pro-bono consulting, and sits on the student adviser board to the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Additionally, Milton is director of the Caribbean Youth Development Institute, an online Caribbean-centric virtual learning platform for primary aged students.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic when schools shifted online, I found that for students in my home country of Jamaica, it was difficult to find resources that were based on the curriculum used there,” Milton explained. “Using the input I received from teachers who taught me growing up, and the advice of my St. Joseph’s professors Dr. Jill Rehmann (about kitchen science experiments) and Professor Christopher Dekki (working in communities), I worked alongside my friend, Brittania Moodie, to create a platform that gathered notes, provided practice tests and virtual workshops across all subject areas for students in Jamaica.”
After graduating from Duke next year, Milton hopes to take her technical expertise one step further and help shape how institutions react to the health impacts of environmental toxins — especially in low-income communities across the globe.
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