Eberly College of Science

Eberly graduate student receives Excellence in Mentoring Award

Victoria “Tori” Bonnell, a doctoral student in biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology (BMMB), has been selected to receive the Graduate Student Excellence in Mentoring Award by the Penn State Graduate School. Credit: Catherine DoudsAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Victoria “Tori” Bonnell, a doctoral student in biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology (BMMB), has been selected to receive the Graduate Student Excellence in Mentoring Award by the Penn State Graduate School. The award recognizes senior doctoral students for exemplary and effective mentoring of undergraduate and/or new or junior graduate students that contributes to the student’s personal growth, professional development and/or academic success. 

Bonnell is a sixth-year graduate student in the lab of Manuel Llinás, distinguished professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and of chemistry.

“Tori possesses an inclusive and friendly personality,” said one nominator. “She is empathetic and advocates for others’ success and wellness. Tori is a good listener and can remove her personal opinions or biases when she is assisting students. She also is well-respected and is a role model to her peers.”

As the mentoring chair for the BMMB program, Bonnell welcomes incoming graduate students to the program and pairs them with senior members to improve their transition to graduate school and to help them form meaningful connections. She trains the senior students, organizes social events, and acts as a mentor herself.

“Even during the quarantine period, Victoria continued to mentor and engage my cohort through virtual game nights, happy hours, and town halls,” said one nominator who participated in the mentor program. “I genuinely believe that Victoria’s excellent mentoring abilities, particularly as the BMMB GSA Mentoring Chair, prevented my cohort from experiencing isolation during the COVID-19 shutdown period.”

Bonnell also mentors graduate students who enter the NIH-funded Eukaryotic Gene Regulation (EGR) predoctoral training program within the Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation, sharing advice for creating and presenting effective scientific presentations.

“Victoria’s wealth of knowledge, experiences and achievements throughout graduate school has made her an invaluable senior mentor in the EGR trainee program,” said a nominator. 

Within the Llinás lab, she trained and mentored a novice undergraduate researcher and Schreyer Honors Thesis student in all aspects of experimental design and execution and in interpretation and communication of results. That mentee went on to win the Peter T. Luckie Outstanding Research Award at the Penn State Undergraduate Exhibition. 

“Tori has also trained a number of senior level individuals in technical research methodologies that she perfected in my laboratory,” said Llinás in a nomination letter. “Those who benefited from her careful instruction include other members of my laboratory at both the graduate and postdoctoral level as well as outside collaborators from institutions around the world.”

BMMB graduate student Victoria Bonnell poses with Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Bonnell has also served as a teaching assistant for several courses, including for a large, senior undergraduate level biochemistry laboratory course. For her noteworthy mentorship in this course, she received the 2018-19 Paul M. Althouse Outstanding Teaching Award from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 

Bonnell also participates regularly and conducts K-12 outreach events, including as the Young Women in STEM (YWIS) chair for the Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) organization. In this role, she organizes regular outreach events and, in 2020, quickly adapted programming for a virtual format, recruiting graduate students and Penn State organizations to produce demonstration videos of experiments that could be completely easily by participants at home.

“The virtual YWIS workshop format that Victoria designed and implemented has been so successful that GWIS has continued to follow this model each semester,” said a nominator. “I, and many other students, have had the immense pleasure of being mentored by Victoria on an academic, scientific and extracurricular level during her time here at Penn State. She will be leaving behind an incredible legacy of mentorship when she graduates.”

Last Updated April 18, 2023