Jonathan Mennecke

“I personally enjoy learning about and using the different methods we have to collect the data. It’s interesting to see [data collecting] being used in practice.”

-Jonathan Mennecke

Jonathan Mennecke hopes to become a physician. When Jonathan has free time, he enjoys rock climbing, running, and hanging out with friends.

Jonathan Mennecke gathers expertise through undergrad research, connections through study abroad

Jonathan Mennecke enjoys learning about how science can be applied in his everyday life and hopes to become a physician, which led him to study kinesiology at Iowa State University. He became interested specifically in cardiovascular health through his time as a patient care technician at Mary Greeley Medical Center and in undergraduate research as a Rosenfeld intern for Iowa State University.

Working at Mary Greeley for two years as a patient care technician, Jonathan cared for patients by taking their vitals, helping maintain their hygiene practices, assisting on walks, and observing heart rates.

“The part I enjoyed the most was learning about cardiac rhythms and how that impacts your health, and also seeing it more in a clinical sense than just reading about it in a textbook,” he said.

As a Louise Rosenfeld undergraduate research intern, Jonathan is studying the positive effects of a treatment for cardiovascular disease and wound healing. This treatment conditions the cardiovascular system to work with less oxygen, by restricting and allowing blood flow in the arm using a blood pressure cuff routinely for 40 minutes.

“I like learning about more of the cardiovascular side of the study and how it affects our cardiovascular system,” Jonathan said. “I also personally enjoy learning about and using the different methods we have to collect the data. It’s interesting to see [data collecting] being used in practice.”

Jonathan has not only accumulated research through Iowa State, but personal experiences and meaningful relationships as well. He studied abroad in New Zealand — a trip inspired by one of his favorite series, Lord of the Rings. Initially, he was hesitant to apply because he thought it would be difficult to stray from his original college schedule, but he decided to take advantage of the opportunity while he could experience it through Iowa State. In New Zealand, he studied the local culture and language while enjoying the outdoors with the other exchange students.

“I developed a lot of really close friends there and every weekend we were basically out to a new location,” he said. “It was easily one of the best experiences I had in college.”