Countdown to Commencement 2025: Emma Cooper

The next student featured is Emma Cooper, a biochemistry major and student-athlete on the field hockey team. She was nominated by Dr. Zachary Murphy, assistant professor of biology.

Cooper was recruited to Fisher to play field hockey and in her first season as a collegiate athlete, the team won the Empire 8 championship. During her time on the team, she highlighted that having many great teammates has significantly shaped her into the person she is today.

She has represented Fisher presenting at the Rochester Academy of Science, previously conducted competitive summer research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and will be presenting at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR) during the spring of 2025.

“Emma has added to my research lab in unprecedented ways. She piloted, developed, and led a new project in my lab independently. She used her expertise and strong chemistry knowledge to make a unique project. Further, she has been a welcome student in the classroom and through research. In addition to being a great teammate in the classroom and lab, she is an outstanding leader and athlete on the field. She is an exceptional student,” said Murphy.

A member of the Honors program, Cooper credits all of her success to Fisher, noting that the connections made with classmates, relationships with teammates, and close-knit relationships with professors and coaches-turned-mentors have been impactful in her undergraduate career.

As a successful student-athlete, Cooper’s advice to future students is simple.

“My time at Fisher is a testament to all students that you can be successful in your academics and your sport. You don’t have to and shouldn’t pick one or the other, you can have the best of both worlds and be good at both of them,” she said.