Out of this World: Anika Ellingson Looks Up for Her Next Career Step
Written by Doug Goodnough
For the past two years, Anika Ellingson, ’19, has been working on extracting DNA from chimpanzees from Senegal at the University of Utah’s Molecular Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics Lab.
“It sounds cooler than it actually is,” said the former Hillsdale College women’s swimmer, who is finishing up her master’s degree in physical and biological anthropology this fall. “My job entitles getting DNA from those samples.”
Once she extracts the DNA, she helps trace the chimpanzee’s family tree so researchers can figure out how many are in the group to help monitor the health and diversity of the population.
“It’s part of a bigger project,” she said. “I’m just a small facet. The end goal is to finish and publish, and I will decide my next step from there.”
If she had her choice, her next step would be in the field of space biology. Yes, that’s a thing.
“I think that subject area is fascinating, and obviously we don’t know as much about that,” she said. “I could study the differences of micro or macro gravity on the cells of the immune system, developmentally or regeneratively. In an ideal world, that’s what I would like to do. I would die if I could work for NASA.”
While she is waiting for a call from NASA, she said her time in Utah has been productive. After moving there during the end of the COVID-19 pandemic to begin graduate school, Ellingson said she has embraced the outdoors. She enjoys hiking and competing in triathlons and “branching out into other things.”
Swimming is what helped bring her to Hillsdale from rural Minnesota. Her parents lived on a lake, so she originally learned to swim as a safety measure. However, she eventually started swimming competitively in high school and wanted to continue in college.
“I liked the pool,” Ellingson said. “It was a very relaxing place to be growing up. I was extremely clumsy growing up. In the pool, you don’t have to worry about hand-eye coordination as much you do muscle control, the mental game of it.”
Her parents had both heard of Hillsdale, and she was sold once she visited campus.
“It was far enough away where I could be my own person,” Ellingson said. “And I was comfortable with the small-town aspect.”
During her time as a Charger, she competed in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke, where she still holds school records. Ellingson also competed in the 200 and 400 medleys as well as some relays. She said her Hillsdale experience prepared her well for life after college.
“I had to be really good at time management,” said Ellingson, who also worked part-time as a lifeguard at the Sports Complex. “I had a good support network there, and had I not had that, it would have been much more difficult. Coach (Kurt Kirner) always reminded us that we were students first and athletes second, and the fact that we got to compete was a big privilege.”
She said she enjoyed the team bus rides and the camaraderie she experienced being part of the swim team.
“Everyone was really supportive and we always had the biggest cheering section,” Ellingson said. “They were happy moments.”
After graduation, Ellingson worked briefly as a medical scribe and then took a position with the Mayo Clinic as a cancer lab technician. Her job was to grow cancer cells to help doctors determine what types of cancers patients had. Just a few months after she started, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and her work schedule changed drastically.
“Aside from work, I was alone and working the night shift,” she said of the grueling 3:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift. “It was not what I had in mind.”
Calling it a “wonderful learning experience,” she moved from Mayo’s clinical lab environment to a research lab at the University of Utah, which she said was a better fit for her. Now, she is ready for her next challenge, wherever that may be.
“Experiencing new places is the best way to grow and see what you are made of,” said the 26-year-old Ellingson, whose parents traveled extensively during their younger years. “Travel is the way to go.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in August 2023