Sydney Marie Brotheridge, 22, passed away on June 9, 2018, in Tanzania, Africa. She was born on December 28, 1995 to Eric Brotheridge and Maura Buck.
Sydney developed a love for science early in her life at Montessori Children's House in Beech Grove. She travelled to the Amazon rainforest as part of the Noblesville Middle School Science Program. After graduating from Noblesville High School, Sydney pursued her love of science at Indiana University. In Bloomington, she was active in the STEM Outreach program, the Comparative Cognition Lab, the Neuroscience Club and Theta Phi Alpha, graduating with a bachelors in Neuroscience. Sydney cherished Bloomington and the friends she developed as a Hoosier. After graduating, Sydney was offered, and accepted, the research position of her dreams as a neuroscientist with the Belgium Non-Governmental Organization, Apopo, in Morogoro, Tanzania, studying the olfactory capabilities of African Giant-Pouched Rats. Sydney's research at IU and with Apopo has been published in the scientific journal Current Biology. Sydney's spirit, strength and sense of play profoundly engaged each community she lived in as student, colleague, friend and sister. Her smile brightened every room. Her sarcastic wit lightened times of over-seriousness. Her sense of service eased the lives of many. Sydney is survived by her parents, two sisters and grandparents, loving aunts and uncles, cousins and friends.
Services will be held at 3:00 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2018, at Randall & Roberts Fishers Mortuary, 12010 Allisonville Road in Fishers, with visitation beginning at 1:00 pm. Reverend Carolyn Reed will be officiating.
Memorial contributions may be made to APOPO, https://www.apopo.org/en/support-us; or, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) through a fundraiser organized by her IU STEM Outreach friends at https://www.facebook.com/stemiub/