Alumni Voices: Laurie Garrett

UC Santa Cruz alumna Laurie Garrett (Merrill, 1975, biology) is a world health policy analyst, award-winning science reporter, and author. She is considered a pandemics expert and a leader in discussions of global health and infectious diseases.
Garrett fondly reflects on the interdisciplinary academic opportunities available for students at UCSC, and how students are encouraged to follow their own interests and curiosities. Only upon arriving at UC Berkeley for grad school did Garrett realize the research projects she participated in as an undergrad offered skill-building experiences that were not available to students from other leading universities.