Ann Marie Wellhouse

Duties: Helping to determine the structure of a cytochrome P450 protein, important in cholesterol and drug metabolism. She is working closely with Science Intern Justin Chartron to grow crystals of the protein.

Job the Rest of the Year: Science teacher at River Valley High School, a charter school she helped found in Lakeside seven years ago.

Goal: Learning up-to-date techniques to bring back to her students. “I want to teach my students the science that they’ll encounter in the world they’re walking into.”

Background: B.S. in Biology from San Diego State University. California Teaching Credential from National University. Working as a field biologist specializing in rare and endangered plants, both for the State of California and for private companies. Teaching science to children being homeschooled.

Previous Experience at Scripps Research: Participation in the Science Partnership Scholars Program. “It was a wonderful experience and I wrote three curriculum pieces as a result—entitled Medicines to Market, AIDS, and Combinatorial Chemistry.”

Thoughts on her Summer Internship: “The Stout lab is delightful, full of warm, interesting, and wonderful people. It is really fun to work with people who are excited about what they are doing.”

Family Life: Son, Joseph, now in college studying astrophysics; husband, William, who is principal of River Valley High School; two dogs, Blue and Blossom; and two cats, Klingon and Natasha.

Extracurriculars: Gardening, feeding the wild rabbits so they don’t eat her flowers, hiking, camping, and writing, especially children’s mystery stories with a natural history theme.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

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Science teacher Ann Marie Wellhouse, pictured here with
her mentor Justin Chartron of the Stout lab, hopes to bring back up-to-date laboratory techniques to her students. Photo by Kevin Fung.