Matthew J. Phillips is a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with a minor in Biology and expected graduation in Spring 2016. He has maintained a high GPA of 3.80 and received numerous academic honors and scholarships. His research experience includes over 3 years in the Social Insect Laboratory studying the effects of oxidative stress on genomic recombination in honey bees and current research in the Croatt Research Group involving multi-step organic syntheses. He has authored or co-authored two conference presentations on his honey bee research.