The Article below was published in Vol. 135, Issue 5 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on February 7, 2020
By Jovana Jovanovska ‘23
Staff Writer
Sean Menke is an associate professor of biology at Lake Forest College who, in addition to his interests in natural sciences, is passionate about music, anthropology, and ultimate Frisbee. His scientific research is based on ant communities and he has worked with many Lake Forest College students during his time at the College. Stentor staff interviewed Menke to learn more about his academic experience and research.
Stentor: What do you like to do in your free time?
Menke: It depends. I do a lot of reading of fantasy and sci-fi books; I like hiking, spending time with my daughter, playing beach volleyball and ultimate Frisbee.
Stentor: What was your dream profession as a child?
Menke: It varied. It was either a veterinarian at a zoo or a park ranger in national parks.
Stentor: Could you tell me about your academic pathway from your undergraduate work to getting your PhD?
Menke: I did my undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, Morris. It’s a liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere in the western part of the state. I graduated as a biology major with a geology minor. After that, I went to (working toward) my master’s degree in zoology at the University of Oklahoma. I did my master’s thesis on desert lizard ecology. I was studying how desertification was causing changes in lizard and snake communities. After that, I went to the University of California in San Diego where I intended to continue studying lizard communities. The person I was supposed to work with retired because of medical reasons, so I switched to studying invasive ant species and the invasive Argentine ant.
Stentor: What other academic interests do you have?
Menke: I was always involved in music—I was a trumpet player, used to do a lot of concert band work, and then after I transitioned to jazz music. I did that all the way to my PhD. I kind of stopped because I didn’t have the time to perform at the level I wanted to.
Stentor: What did you do before coming to Lake Forest College?
Menke: I was at North Carolina State University where I spent three years as a postdoctoral scholar. I went from studying invasive species to studying urban pest species. I studied how native species responded to a change in the environment and turned out to behave like invasive species, how organisms respond to environmental change, and what makes some species more likely to invade a habitat than others.
Stentor: What is the most difficult decision you had to make during your academic career?
Menke: It was when I graduated from undergrad and whether I wanted to go to graduate school or not. At that time, I was trying to decide whether I was going to be a competitive video gamer. That was when the competitive gaming industry was taking off, so I spent the summer after I graduated doing that as my full-time job and career until I realized I didn’t really care about that, so I decided to do graduate school. It was more intellectually exciting.
Stentor: What is your current research?
Menke: I have three different research projects that are ongoing. I am still studying the invasive Argentine ants in California. We have roughly a 50-year data set for invasion history in California, so we’re working on seeing how the effects of invasion change through time. Another aspect of my research is studying urban ant communities and trying to understand how ant communities differ in urban environments versus natural environments. Finally, I’m doing local ecological research on ant communities, studying how ant communities change in different environments, whether it’s in downtown Chicago or Lake Forest, and how nutrients in the environment help explain that pattern.
Stentor: What is your advice for current Lake Forest College students?
Menke: Don’t specialize. Pick one thing you’re really interested in and make it your major, but then take other courses. I had anthropology classes every single term, even though I knew that I was going to be a biology major. I think there’s too much focus on taking courses for a major to stand out for a job in the field. What actually makes you stand out is all the other skills you can bring here, whether that’s computer science, because you like coding, or you’re taking art. No one asked me which were my majors when I was applying for jobs. They asked me which skills I could bring. I would advise students to get other skills.
Jovana Jovanovska can be reached at jovanovskaj@mx.lakeforest.edu
