Mark Ticknor and Meg Samek-Smith
A self-proclaimed “dog person,” Mark Ticknor, neuroscience ’26, has long been perplexed by cats’ odd behaviors. However, it wasn’t until he worked with mice on the neuromodulation team as an intern at The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation that Mark began to wonder whether there might be a better way to interpret animal behavior.
While interning in Los Angeles, Ca., Mark was part of a team studying the impact of electrode implants on cancer. The team used sugar to lure mice – testing how well they could move towards it.
At the same time, Mark was sharing living space with a roommate who had a cat. He found himself wondering if there was a way to make animal behavior more understandable for the average person. Having taken a few classes on building AI, Mark decided to take matters into his own hands.
“Cats are weird, and I wanted to learn more about what the cat and what my dogs back home were doing, so I decided to build an app called Animal Insights.”
Mark began building the app in June, spending his free time after work crafting the framework of what would become Animal Insights. Eventually, he found himself at a standstill and didn’t know that he could take things any further on his own. Back on campus, the Center for Career Advancement directed Mark to PGCEI.
The center helped set Mark up with seed funding and connected him with Graham Billington, computer science ’26, who helped build out Animal Insights – which went live in October and is available for download on the Apple App Store. Users can upload a photo or video of any animal to get entertaining insights on the species and its behaviors.
A few weeks later, Mark heard about Genomics Media Group, a Bucknellian-founded company that aims to become the “Bloomberg of Genomics.” With a background in business, Meg Samek-Smith ’88, P’23, P’25, P’27, built Genomics Media Group, which is dedicated solely to the genomics industry and delivers data-driven, insightful coverage to inform and empower investors, industry leaders, and scientists worldwide.
Genomics Media Group and The Perricelli-Gegnas Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation came together to give Mark an opportunity to leverage his background in science by creating content for the media group. Mark is working as an Applied Science Analysis & Insights Intern for Genomics through a micro-internship platform, a resource for Bucknellian-founded early-stage companies to hire students through short-term, paid professional assignments at no cost to the business.
Mark is working to translate dense science verbiage into articles that are more digestible for the general public. “I think that’s a pretty valuable skill,” he said.
Email pgcei@bucknell.edu to learn more about micro-internship opportunities.