Lola Piper is pictured at the Van Andel Institute on March 27. Contributed photo.
WSCC News is a presentation of West Shore Community College in partnership with Mason County Press.
By Kai Taylor, MCP Writer
ALLENDALE — Lola Piper started as an English major focused on secondary education at West Shore Community College. Now, with one year remaining at Grand Valley State University, she is pursuing a much different career in cell and molecular biology and has been recognized with “the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering in America.”
Piper moved to Manistee midway through high school and was set on pursuing a career as a teacher. However, during her time at WSCC, she took one of professor Paul Bilinski’s science classes, which redirected her studies.
“It was a smaller group, and I won’t ever forget them, because they were probably one of my most engaged biology groups that I’ve had at West Shore,” Bilinski said. “While it was a non-science majors class, I found us talking about topics as though they were third or fourth years in science, like biology majors.”
The class, a life science course intended for “non science majors,” according to Bilinski, set Piper on a path toward science.
“I wouldn’t be where I am at all if it weren’t for (Bilinski),” Piper said.
“It was (Bilinski’s) classes that really had me rediscover my love for molecular biology,” Piper said.
Piper, now a cell and molecular biology major, transferred to GVSU from WSCC and recently completed her third year there. In March, she was selected as a 2026 Goldwater Scholar, a recipient of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship Award. She was one of 454 scholarship recipients nationwide this academic year, making it a rare but well-deserved honor.
In addition to the scholarship, Piper is preparing to publish her own cell genomics research this summer.
“The caliber of research she would be publishing in is extremely high,” Bilinski said.
Piper is applying to graduate schools this fall and is “on her way towards a PHD in research,” according to Bilinski.
“I would encourage students interested in biology to look into research,” Piper said.
Students interested in biological research can contact Piper at lolapiper05@gmail.com.
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