Undergraduate Research Burns Bright in the Biological Sciences

At a glance, they could be any other professional researcher, expertly performing techniques and operating sophisticated scientific instruments required by modern biology. And like others engaged in research, they analyze their data and write up the results for publication. But these researchers are sophomores, juniors and seniors majoring in the biological sciences. These students want to do more than sit in the classroom; they want the intense learning experience that hands-on research provides, and they want the chance to make a meaningful contribution to the laboratories they work in. Their interests are diverse and their research takes place in modern laboratories or in locales as exotic as the Galapagos Islands or the Amazon Rainforest.

There are many paths to a research experience. For most, the way is eased by the Undergraduate Research Coordinator in each of the College's six departments. Many of these students are in the Arts & Sciences Honors Program completing individual studies projects that will allow them to graduate "with distinction." But not all student researchers are in the Honors Program. Some students simply like to strike out on their own without the restrictions they may perceive in an Honors contract. Others, working to put themselves through school, may be hard-pressed to meet Honors Program requirements, but still want the rigorous science experience to be found only in a research setting. Sometimes faculty recruit good students in their classes for lab work. How they get there doesn't matter as much as their willingness and commitment to DO science.

The following are just a few of the dozens of biological sciences undergraduates each year who go that extra mile to get their hands on science.

Carrie Hoodlebrink's experience screening mutants in plant biologist Fred Sack's lab, led her to develop her own project, which examined the effect of the plant hormone, ethylene, on the distribution of stomata (plant pores) in leaves. Hoodlebrink credits her work in Sack's lab with developing her organizational skills, "You have to learn to think through a project...about why and how to do it...."

Life in the lab, as many students find, is a healthy dose of hard reality. From her three-year lab perspective, Hoodlebrink says, "It's a lot of tedious work, but it is rewarding-it's an opportunity to put your words and thoughts into the scientific world." To do that, Hoodlebrink began a Ph.D. program in plant biology this fall at Washington University in St. Louis.

Goldwater Award winner Brad Blaser works with molecular geneticist Hay-Oak Park, looking at the spatial control of budding in a variety of yeast used to study complex cellular functions in higher organisms. Because budding resembles a process found to be defective in many cancer cells, it may have important implications for cancer control.

Blaser has learned a lot about what it takes to be a successful scientist. "The most exciting thing is learning what it's like to make an important contribution to scientific knowledge. There's always something new. If you're not looking for something new, you're not doing research." Blaser is certainly doing research. Looking at a gene studied by several well-known scientists, he found an interaction that had gone unnoticed. "This is exciting-I'm looking at something that these people never thought of," Blaser says. He will graduate Spring Quarter 2000 and plans to apply to a M.D./Ph.D. program.

Pfizer Award winner J. Alex Feng does research with biochemist Dick Swenson, who studies flavoproteins-enzymes necessary for energy production and important in DNA repair and detoxification.

Feng views the research experience as not just a way to learn more about research, but to learn more about oneself. "It should not be just to get into a better med school or grad school, but to see if you like it-you're not a failure if you don't like it!"

Feng likes it. He is riveted by his work and plans to continue graduate-level research when he graduates in 2000.

Students quickly find how drastically a research lab differs from a classroom lab where experiments are programmed to work. Feng says, "In the lab, I get surprises-more often than I'd like!" But he sees it as part of doing research, where persistence and hard work are not always rewarded, and researchers are not on the clock. "You start an experiment, you have to finish it," Feng says. "And you have to accept that not everything works out and move on."

Swenson's lab serves as home base for Feng. This is an important side benefit for many students, who can spend time between classes in the lab-doing homework or lab work, or just relaxing.

Rebecca Reiland started out in Andrea Wolfe's lab as a work-study student. She now works on the EEOB faculty member's Penstemon Project and is paid from an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Support Grant. Researchers in Wolfe's lab use molecular markers to help them reconstruct the evolutionary history of Penstemon, the largest genus endemic to North America.

Reiland's arrival was serendipitous for Wolfe, who found the quality of Reiland's work, her persistence and consistency an unexpected bonus. If undergraduates are enthusiastic about their experiences, their faculty advisers are no less so. Wolfe found training Reiland well worth the investment in time, "Rebecca was my first undergrad student; she illustrates the positive things about undergrad research-it benefits her and it benefits my lab group's research. Rebecca has contributed several thousand DNA extractions that will keep us busy for the next 10 years!"

That first year in Wolfe's lab was equally important for Reiland, "It was a good opportunity; it gave me a clearer picture of what people actually do in a lab." She says her lab experience reinforces classroom learning and likes the extra coaching she gets from graduate students. Reiland, who plans to go to graduate school after she graduates in Spring 2000, believes her laboratory experience will be invaluable.

This past spring, plant ecologist Peter Curtis, with senior Angela Worley and sophomore Leah Crocker, initiated a long-term project to study the invasion of Garlic Mustard in Kraus Woods, a small natural area a few miles north of Columbus.

This was a problem that both young women were eager to tackle. It was also a chance to do outreach activities, for an important component of the project is engaging local groups in an education/eradication campaign.

The experience was an eye-opener for Worley, "This sounded like such an easy task on paper: find Garlic Mustard and get rid of it! Then I started walking through the woods and realized how enormous that task was in reality. I now have a much better understanding of invasive species and the daunting task of controlling them. Even simple questions seem to have very large answers in the natural world." These were valuable lessons Worley will take with her to the Peace Corps and then to graduate school.

Crocker liked the idea of a long-term project that would not only map the encroaching population of Garlic Mustard, but initiate an effort to slow down its spread. Crocker explains the project's appeal, "As a sophomore just starting to contemplate scientific research, it got me involved in the scientific community and thinking about important issues. I plan on graduate school in the biological sciences...this experience helped greatly in steering my path in the direction of ecological issues."

Francisco "Pakito" Martinez began his "apprenticeship" with microbiologist Darrell Galloway last winter, learning the techniques, protocols, processes, and mechanics of the lab environment. Now he applies those skills in a hands-on research project that is part of a larger lab effort to develop a DNA vaccine that may help to control cystic fibrosis. Martinez plans on graduate work in microbiology and believes his experience puts him a step ahead of other people. Galloway's lab has provided, he says, "an ideal, comfortable, no-stress learning environment. I think this makes the learning process faster-you learn by messing up; you learn to correct your mistakes, and without the pressure, you tend to perform better."

Working with biochemist George Marzluf, Steve Barthel, majoring in both biochemistry and molecular genetics, devised a research project with a highly personal twist. Using DNA analysis, he hoped to determine whether he and his twin were indeed genetically identical. Barthel explains, "Until very recently, it was impossible to know unequivocally, whether one's identical "twinness" existed at the genetic level. But the emergence of DNA fingerprinting techniques a dozen years ago changed that." Armed with DNA extracted from cheek cells and hair follicle cells, Barthel hoped to have a definitive answer by the time he graduated in August and headed to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin. Did that happen? "The final results may not have been as clear-cut as he wished, but he acquired a lot of really good experience that will be of great benefit to him at Wisconsin," Marzluf says.

Engrossed in the elegantly-titled project he began with entomologist John Wenzel two years ago, Bryan Ludwig continued plugging away at it every day this past summer, even though he graduated in the spring. "Genetic Fingerprinting for Identification of Adult and Larval Aquatic Insects: Applying Molecular Technology to Bio-Indicators of Water Quality" has nifty real-world implications.

Caddisflies are valuable bio-indicators of both the thermal and chemical state of the freshwater environments they inhabit. Until now, significant physical differences between the larval and adult forms hampered accurate identification of different Caddisfly species. By developing genetic fingerprints of identified adult Caddisflies, Ludwig could match them with larval fingerprints. And in the process, " learn a great deal about the procedures behind a genetic fingerprint-they are the building blocks for many other genetic procedures," he says. Ludwig, who managed to tear himself away from the lab in time to begin medical school at the University of Cincinnati this fall, enthusiastically endorses the undergraduate research experience, "It is something I enjoyed from the first...the challenges kept me wanting to get to the lab early every day."

Passing the Torch

The College of Biological Sciences has long been proactive in providing our undergraduates with research opportunities. Many see it as one of the best ways to inspire young scientists and pass the scientific torch to the next generation.

Biochemistry Professor Edward J. Behrman is just one of many faculty who welcome the opportunity to teach and train undergraduate researchers. Behrman, who has been with the University since October 1965, shares his long perspective of the value of undergraduate research with the following story:

Michael Emmerman worked with me when he was an undergraduate. He graduated in 1981. He and I published a little paper together (M. Emmerman & E. J. Behrman, Cleavage and cross-linking of proteins with osmium (VIII) reagents. J. Histochem. 32, 459-462 (1982)). Mike then went to the University of Wisconsin as a graduate student. He wished to work with Howard Temin, who had won the Nobel Prize for his work on reverse transcriptase. Many students wished to work with Temin, and he could only take one. So he asked Mike, "Why should I take you in preference to all these others?" "This is why." said Mike, proffering our publication. Temin took him. Mike got his Ph.D. and has been very successful. He has published more than 50 papers.