Aspects of the Research that Students are Involved In:

Summer research students are involved in ALL aspects of the study from experimental design to conference presentation. The nature of the project is that a motivated undergraduate biology major can complete an entire experiment during the eight-week program. You will start off reading the primary literature in the field and learning how to catch (from canoes) and maintain the study organism (in the lab). Then you will choose and refine the experimental protocol for a specific experiment. Then you will help build experimental apparati out of plexiglass, mark the beetles with colored pens, and carry out your experiment. Position data will be collected with digital cameras and video and analyzed with computerized image analysis software. Students will then use statistical software to analyze and graph their data. Finally, each participant will present their findings as a written scientific paper and as a poster at a regional conference.

Don’t know how to do these things? That is what the summer is for, to teach you how to do research in general and to give you a complete experience to let you develop your appreciation of research. By the end of the summer you will have built an excellent resume of skills and experiences that can be the ticket to a greater understanding of science in general and your acceptance into a graduate program.

Other practical lessons that will be taught during the summer research program:

• Learn how to apply to graduate school.
• Learn how to make a website.

Opportunities for fun outside of the Lab this summer.

On previous summers participants have gone on a number of trips such as Ottawa to go to the museums and to the Adirondack Mountains to hike. The picture above is of Sarah Waybright hiking in the Adirondacks. In addition, the lab usually has a couple of barbecues together.