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I am committed to the incorporation of excellent
undergraduates into my research program. If you are interested in
becoming involved with research in my lab, please contact
me. See the
Lab Members
page for examples of undergraduates participating in various aspects of my
research program. There are several
mechanisms available to facilitate the inclusion of undergraduates in
research, including:
Time Slip (including
Work-study): These are paid positions, and typical duties are
associated with the day to day functioning of the lab, including fish care,
system maintenance, and laboratory maintenance. As students gain more experience, they
are typically given more responsibility and learn more complicated
techniques (such as DNA and RNA extraction, PCR, genotyping, and DNA
sequencing). Because these are paid positions,
there is somewhat less flexibility in the projects to which the student is
assigned.
Course Credit: Students may register in one of Biol 495 (Research in Molecular, Cellular, and
Developmental Biology), Biol 496 (Research in
Ecology and Evolution), or Biol 497 (Research in Anatomy
and Physiology) and gain course credit for a research project in a lab in
the Dept. of Biological Sciences. Registration
in these courses must be prearranged with the mentoring faculty member
(preferably halfway through the semester before you begin the project). The exact research project is designed
jointly by the faculty member and the student, and in my lab a paper (in
scientific format) is prepared at the conclusion of the project. This option represents a substantial time investment. A typical 3 credit research project will
demand 15 to 20 hours per week from the student. If you can’t fit this kind of commitment into
your schedule, these courses are not for you.
Undergraduate
Research Awards: The Department of Biological Sciences
offers a limited number of research awards for undergraduates each
year. These are awarded
competitively, and are an excellent way for outstanding students to gain
research experience.
Even freshman and sophmores are welcome in my lab, provided they meet the minimum criteria (see
below). My general approach with younger undergraduates is to start
them with basic lab tasks (such as fish care), and once they have
demonstrated proficiency with the techniques used in the lab, move them on
to working on individual research projects.
There are always more people interested in undergraduate lab
positions than I can accommodate in a given semester. With this in
mind, the following are the criteria I use in evaluating potential new
undergraduates.
1. Solid Academics: You don't need a 4.0 GPA to
work in my lab, but you do need to demonstrate the intellectual capacity
and discipline required of a good biologist. Your grades are the most
accessible indicator of these qualities. I pay particular attention
to courses that are relevant to the research topics of the lab (Genetics, Genomics,
Molecular Biology, Evolution, Statistics, Ichthyology, and Animal
Behavior).
2. Compatible Research Interests: You should be
genuinely interested in the research of the lab. I typically gauge this in an initial
interview, and I am continually evaluating this in your first
semester. Life (and your
undergraduate career) is too short to do things you find boring.
3. Good Work Ethic: You
absolutely must be reliable to work in a lab that uses vertebrate animals
for research. For paid positions, I will
typically solicit letters of recommendation to evaluate your work
ethic. For research positions
associated with course credit, I do my best to evaluate candidates prior to
registration in the course.
4. A sense of humor.
Actually, this is more of a philosophy than a rule. In my view, rigorous science and fun need
not be mutually exclusive.
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