2000 W. Hempstead grad finishing PhD in toxicology

JOSEPHINE BONVENTRE

THEN
Age: 17
Year graduated: 2000 West Hempstead High School
Interests: Genetic biology, theater
What’s Ahead: Gettysburg College

NOW
Age: 28
Current residence: New Brunswick, N.J.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in biology/chemistry with a minor in theater from Gettysburg College in 2004; master’s degree in biology from Adelphi University in 2006; currently full-time student, working on a doctorate in toxicology at Rutgers University of New Jersey

 

Josephine Bonventre has loved science since she was in elementary school.

“I was always a science nerd,” she said.

Encouraged by her teachers, she thrived at West Hempstead High School, where she said there was a great science department and supportive teachers. But Bonventre always balanced her scientific bent with a passion for the theater, performing in school plays.

Her favorite high school memory involves working on a senior project for Roseanne Scully’s AP English class with a group of close friends during which they wrote, directed and acted in a film entitled “Gopi’s Big Adventure.”

Still in touch, the pals reminisced about the adventure at a recent wedding.

She has kept her penchant for the arts alive today, singing for an all-girls choir.

“I’ve always had two sides,” she said. When her scientific studies left no time for theater, Bonventre was “very sad.”

Joining the choir brought balance back to her life, she said.

“While I love science and it is my passion, the arts side of me keeps me grounded.”

Although she planned to be a genetics biologist after high school, “I didn’t know what it meant back then,” she said.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Gettysburg College in 2004, Bonventre worked with environmental chemicals and pesticides at Adelphi University and earned a master's in science in biology.

Today, she is aiming to finish her doctorate in toxicology, “the study of physiology gone wrong, the disruption of the normal physiological process, while still using molecular techniques, which incorporate what I loved about genetics.”