Rob O’Malley, who is now a PhD candidate in the University of Southern California’s Integrative & Evolutionary Biology program, graduated from Miami University in 1999 with both university and departmental honors.

A zoology and anthropology double-major, Rob still considers one of his undergraduate honors courses instrumental in sending him on his current career path. Confident early in his studies that he was interested in science, Rob learned he also had a passion for anthropology – a passion he explored through an internship with the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. between his junior and senior year.

After graduation, Rob spent several years putting his background in zoology and anthropology to use while studying capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica. For his dissertation research on insect-eating behavior by chimpanzees (humanity's closest living relatives), he spent more than a year living and working at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, made famous by the renowned primatologist Jane Goodall. He expects to defend his dissertation in the spring of 2011.

Rob’s path of gaining a strong foundation, pursuing his interests inside and outside the classroom, and making intentional decisions about what he does with his life based on his passions are all parts of an exciting personal story – and a wonderful showcase of all the great things a Miami University undergraduate education can do to prepare students for life beyond Oxford!