Caroline Schomer joined UT Austin in 2022 and plays a pivotal role in the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and Institutional Biosafety Committee ensuring researchers follow regulations in a sensitive and complex research arena. We spoke with her to learn more about what she does, why it matters, and how even the Florida heat is no match for Texas in the summertime.
What is your title and role at UT? How long have you worked at the university?
I am associate director for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). I have been with the University for two years and joined the Forty Acres from the University of Florida.
As you play an extremely important support role for UT faculty, can you elaborate on the position and what it entails?
The IACUC office helps ensure that UT follows the federal requirements for vertebrate animal research and teaching. On the IBC side, we ensure compliance with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant and Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules. In a nutshell, we help the investigators navigate the complex regulations through guidance, education and research protocol reviews.
What are some of the most common support needs you find with researchers at UT Austin?
Proactive education and training is a must in the complex world of animal research. I feel that we are making strides in this arena although there is always room for continual improvement in a dynamic program.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not ensuring Texas researchers are being supported and kept on the right track?
I live for travel! My first experience with it was taking a summer road trip around the U.S. with my dad when I was 12. I love learning about other places. Learning about how other people live, their culture and history, is fascinating to me and provides so much opportunity for personal growth. I hope to make it to all of the continents in my lifetime.
How long have you lived in Austin? If you’re not from here, where did you move here from?
I moved to Austin for UT in March 2022. I was raised in Orlando, Florida (the land of everything Mickey Mouse). I then moved to Gainesville, Florida for school and lived there until I moved to Austin. Fun fact - I performed at Disney many times a year when I was in high school. My claim to fame is once being a background dancer for Mariah Carey and Mickey Mouse!
What’s your favorite/least favorite thing about the Lone Star State?
My favorite things about Texas are BBQ, the flowers blooming in the spring, and actually having seasons. Like many others I do not like the the summer heat. It’s very different from Florida in that way.
The title of this profile is a play on the name of the song Show Me The Way by Styx, written by Dennis DeYoung in 1989.