Newswise — "There's something about being at a place like this that makes students want to do science." Williams College Director of the Science Center Professor Charles M. Lovett Jr.'s words are evidenced by increasing participation with the college's Summer Science Research Program.
This year's 10-week campus program hosts 195 students, 20 more than the 175 students who tackled lab challenges during 2006. The enrollment is almost perfectly halved; 97 male students and 98 female students are participating during this year's program.
It's the unique and valuable opportunities offered at about 60 comprehensive, hands-on research labs generating the enthusiasm, said Lovett, who leads a biochemistry lab on DNA and damaged DNA repair.
"Half of these students will end up as co-authors on published papers," he said. "This is work similar to what graduate students would do."
The research conducted within the labs is vital, compelling work but equally important is the student-instructor dynamic, Lovett said.
"There are as many different stories as there are students," he said. "For most of the students, it's the exposure to modern science that gets them here. There are opportunities for research and there are faculty who like to be mentors. There is interaction in so many ways. Young people with an interest can really be inspired." Assistant Professor of Computer Science Morgan McGuire motivated Katie Creel, '10, of Lincoln, Mass. to participate in a graphics lab.
"Professor McGuire suggested my doing summer research," Creel said. "There's a sense of achievement because you are doing things no one's done before. It's hands-on, not spoon-fed."
Associate Biology Professor Lara Hutson's lab is focused on the interaction between genetics and the environment during nervous system development."This summer program is my favorite part of the job," she said. "It's absolutely real world. I know one reason students choose a school like Williams is because they can do original research. It's amazing, the opportunities given these students, and Williams is getting known for that."
The program adds another dimension as well; an opportunity to work with female instructors within an academic arena once dominated by male professors.As a University of Washington graduate student, Hutson didn't encounter women role models to emulate within the sciences.
"There were no female faculty members in my department," she said. "It really was an old boys network at that time."
The Williams biology department currently hosts a faculty that is about 50 percent women, said Hutson. Mutual respect among instructors and students is an important factor during the academic cultivation of future scientists, she said.Hands-on research coupled with dedicated instructor mentoring may be just the formula for an invigorated interest in scientific pursuits.
Lindsey Jones '10, a student from Prairie Village, Kansas, said she has decided to declare biology as her major course of study. A member of a lab led by biology Professor Joan Edwards, Jones is among those wrapping up a decade-long project focused on invasive plants.
"One of the things we are doing is creating a data base of pollen photography," she said. "We are using an electron microscope, which to me, is the most exciting thing we're working on."
Senior Lecturer in Chemistry Anne R. Skinner supervises the archaeology research laboratory. The lab activities plant the seeds of interest that can lead to a life-long commitment to science, she said.
"This is the largest program of its' kind for a college of this size in the country," Skinner said. "There's a certain amount of making lemonade out lemons; not all of the projects work out. But it is research that gets the undergrads and the pre-college students interested in science."
Leah Shore '09, a classics and chemistry major from Lancaster, Mass., described the awe of the archeology lab research she's encountered.
"This is an area that you don't get much of during the school year, and here, we were able to dive right in," Shore said. "Now I'm thinking maybe I could do archeology or something. Here I am, not even a junior yet, and I'm handling prehistoric teeth."
Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted. To visit the college on the Internet:www.williams.edu
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