Things were a little muddy when Joe Chambers (BS ’14) asked Brooke Weaver (BS ’14) to marry him.
They were on a hike at Eagle Marsh nature preserve, one of Brooke’s favorite places—a place she was introduced to by University of Saint Francis professors Larry “Doc” Wiedman and Lou Weber. Joe and Brooke often hiked there, but this time Joe brought along an engagement ring.
“We were walking by a part of the marsh where there was standing water when a fish—at least we think it was a fish—jumped and splashed,” Joe said. “Brooke was looking to see what she could see, and I got down on one knee behind her and was there when she turned around.”
“We took hikes there quite often, but I had no idea it was going to happen,” Brooke said.
Brooke may have had no idea the proposal was happening that day as she stood in the marsh, but she knew it was coming. Joe and Brooke met on USF orientation day as freshmen in the fall of 2010. “We chose the same color T-shirt and I didn’t leave her alone from then on,” Joe said. Their first class together was “Introduction to the Bible” with Dr. Lance Richey. They also ended up as lab partners in a chemistry class and became friends throughout their freshman year.
“Lab partners bond over chemistry; science labs are four hours long,” Brooke said. “We started dating our sophomore year. We had started hanging out outside of class and recognized we were becoming each other’s best friend.”
They became inseparable in many ways from that point on, leading to marriage in June 2016. Joe and Brooke followed similar career paths in molecular biology upon earning their bachelor’s degrees in biology at USF. After Joe briefly studied pharmacy in Cincinnati and Brooke worked in the clinical lab science program at Parkview Health, both pursued doctorates at the University of Notre Dame, finishing this year. They have even worked together as scientists in the same laboratory at Notre Dame and credit their USF professors as being key influencers in giving them the confidence to pursue research.
Studying the zebrafish as a model organism is yet another common interest. Joe researched kidney development, regeneration and disease contexts using the zebrafish. Brooke investigated genetic pathways that orchestrate embryonic kidney development in zebrafish. Both have received strong praise for their published articles.
Their common interest in molecular biology has strengthened their relationship.
“It’s unusual to be married and work in the same lab,” Brooke said. “People will say, ‘I don’t see how you can work with your spouse and spend all that time together.’ We’re each other’s support system.”
“It’s great having someone who can understand what you’re going through,” Joe said. “We can bounce ideas off each other. If one of us comes home and can’t figure something out, we talk it out. It’s not like we were bumping elbows working in the same lab. It wasn’t like that. And it’s awesome having similar interests and similar goals to bring more research back to Fort Wayne.”
The goal to return to Fort Wayne became reality. Joe landed a position as a professor at the Manchester School of Pharmacy in Fort Wayne. Brooke is also pursuing work in scientific research in the Fort Wayne area.
They agree their time at USF paid off, both in the knowledge and degrees they acquired and the advice they have received from mentors in the biology department. They mentioned the influence of professors Wiedman, Weber, Teri Beam, Andrea Geyer, Paul Schmidt, Warren Pryor, Matt Hopf and Amy Obringer.
“We loved our time at Saint Francis, and it prepared us to go on to a top research university,” Brooke said. “At Saint Francis we were able to learn the fundamentals of the science well, and we were able to conduct summer research with several professors.”
As they look toward ways to continue their career paths, it’s possible Joe and Brooke might be working together yet again.
“We’d like to get science and research growing here and we’d like to start some sort of zebrafish facility,” Joe said. “We definitely feel we’ve gained some tools and knowledge to bring back to Fort Wayne.”