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Two newest Alumni Hall of Fame members recognized

Embriette Hyde, a 2005 graduate, and Mary Jane Merren, WHS Class of 1967, became the newest members of the Alumni Hall of Fame at the Wayland High School Scholastic Honors Night Tuesday.

Wayland High School students in grades 9-12 who earned a grade point average of 3.5 or higher were recognized for their academic achievements at the ceremony.

Hyde earned her bachelor of science degree in Biomedical Science and Spanish from Grand Valley State University and her PhD from Baylor college of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She is the project manager for the American Gut Project, the world’s largest crowd-sourced citizen science research project in existence, which is run out of the Knight lab, now at the University of California San Diego.

During her time as Project Manager for American Gut, Hyde has established the project as part of the White House’s National Microbiome Initiative, expanded the project into Asia, and clinched a spot on Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 in Science and Healthcare, and she has spoken about American Gut at several conferences across the United States, including Boston and Portland, Oregon.

Hyde continues to work to expand the project as well as assisting in the development of rapid response pipelines and bringing in high profile partnerships for the Center for Microbiome Innovation at UC San Diego. Some of her favorite collaborations through the American Gut project include working with local fermenter’s clubs and the UC San Diego athletics teams.

Merren is the current Director of the Wayland Union Education Foundation and former Science Curriculum Coordinator for Wayland Union’s elementary schools. She has volunteered numerous hours in for schools and community and was a business owner.

PHOTOS: Mary Jane Merren    Embriette Hyde

(Photos courtesy of Terry Ellis)

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