Research and service
More students spending summers in active learning

Crystal Richardson, '10, examines sponge samples shipped from Key West a day earlier.

BY JOAN TUPPONCE

While Crystal Richardson, '10, examined fresh sponge samples in a Gottwald science lab over the summer, Jason Levinn, '08, gathered research data for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Richardson, an undergrad researcher, and Levinn, a David D. Burhans Civic Fellow, represent a growing number of Richmond students who spend their summers doing undergraduate research or community service.

The Arts and Sciences dean's office reported that some 150 students spent a significant part of the summer conducting research. That number was up from about 120 last year.

The Center for Civic Engagement helps students find summer volunteer and research opportunities with social service organizations. The center offers at least three Burhans Civic Fellowships as well as numerous 10-week, paid summer fellowships for independent research and collaborative, faculty-student research projects (CCE Quest Fellows and CCE Research Fellows).

"We had a record number of applications for research fellows and a good number of applications for David D. Burhans Civic Fellowships," says Amy Howard, CCE director. "Those tracks are a way for students to connect academic study with real-world experience."

CCE fellowships are extremely competitive. This year six research fellows and four Burhans Fellows were paired with faculty advisors.

"We require a faculty mentor to help guide our fellows in connecting theory and practice," Howard explains. "We like for the student to take the initiative and [tell us] what they are interested in. We can mesh that with community needs."

Levinn became familiar with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a nonprofit organization that focuses on climate change, when he founded RENEW (Richmond Environmental Network for Economic Willpower) at Richmond last year. Levinn and his group lobbied for more green building initiatives on campus.

"Tom Owens of CCAN helped me get RENEW off the ground," Levinn explains. "I asked Tom about internships."

During his internship, Levinn researched socially responsible shareholder resolutions and sustainable endowments, where colleges and universities invest in socially and environmentally responsible companies.

"These are important," Levinn says. "Shareholders have a responsibility. They have a say."

Levinn would like to continue with CCAN and his environmental studies. "I am realizing the opportunity that well-coordinated activism has for creating change," he says.

Richardson's research also relates to the environment. A biochemistry major, she was one of the students of Drs. April and Malcolm Hill, both associate professors of biology, who worked in the Florida Keys and on campus to learn how sea sponges react to increased surface water temperature. This was Richardson's second summer as a student researcher—she conducted research on campus last year as a pre-freshman.

Richardson and other students in April Hill's lab were able to examine fresh sponge samples gathered by Malcolm Hill and his students off the Florida coast and shipped overnight to campus. The multi-year sponge research is being funded by a grant of more than $200,000 from the National Science Foundation.

"It was a great opportunity," Richardson says.

Such undergraduate research programs are beneficial to students on many levels.

"They spend eight to 10 hours a day immersed in one field. It gives them a taste of what it's like," says Kathy Hoke, associate dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. "It's a different experience from sitting in the classroom. It helps them decide on their career path."

Tajh Ferguson, '10, participated in the pre-freshman Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant program last year. She was paired with Dr. Craig Kinsley because of her interest in neuroscience. She found the initial experience rewarding and decided to continue in 2007.

"Through my pre-freshman experience, I was able to get a look at how things worked in the lab, and I gained more confidence in my lab skills," Ferguson says. "Because of this experience, I began formulating ideas for my own research."

Ferguson worked with Kinsley to examine the increased ability of animals that have reproduced to learn and remember events and objects well into old age. She studied the correlation between estrogen and amyloid precursor protein, a marker for degenerative disease and cognitive decline.

"It was pretty easy to come up with ideas for my research because Dr. Kinsley is very open to allowing students to follow their interests," Ferguson says. "I would really like to publish something based on this project."

Hoke believes that undergraduate research like Ferguson's and Richardson's helps foster independent, critical thinking skills. "More people are starting to see the value of undergraduate research," she says. "It gives you the taste of being in the driver's seat."

Ferguson's research is helping her focus on career objectives. "I would like to go to medical school and pursue an M.D.-Ph.D. or an M.D.-M.P.H.," she says. "My project has helped me learn patience because results are not instant. I feel that I am truly exploring—not only through my research but in all aspects of my college life—and I really like that."