THE EARLY EXPLORERS
Undergraduates working with established scholars in the quest for new knowledge.
Written by Sally Logue-Post
Contributing to the wisdoms and truths of the world around them, the EARLY EXPLORERS at Texas Tech often are undergraduates working with established scholars in the quest for new knowledge.
The history of childcare workers. Unique jewelry designs. The DNA of field mice. On the surface, three very different subjects. But with a closer look, one sees a common thread of discovery, both academic and personal, made possible by undergraduate research at Texas Tech University.
The university’s research program involves not only the traditional graduate student working away in a science laboratory or sifting through mounds of statistics, but the program also offers a unique opportunity for freshman students to participate in the discovery of new knowledge.
The university’s research program involves not only the traditional graduate student working away in a science laboratory or sifting through mounds of statistics, but the program also offers a unique opportunity for freshman students to participate in the discovery of new knowledge.
Along with the contribution of creating new knowledge, comes a keen insight into the students’ chosen fields. And, sometimes, students make life-changing decisions after their experiences.
For Darin Bell, his undergraduate research work related to exploring the DNA of harvest mice. His experience also was about discovering that he still wanted to be a physician, but that he did not want to add a doctoral degree to his medical school studies.
Rebekah Starnes began doing research into the history of daycare workers for a book; she ended up finding insight into the life of a young female university faculty member. That familiarity has started her down the path to a doctorate and her own teaching position.
Erin Wendland-Murphy’s undergraduate research allowed her to create unique jewelry designs, which are based on her life growing up on a farm. Her know-how also showed her the business side of art.
Bell, Starnes and Wendland-Murphy all now are pursuing or about to embark on graduate studies in medicine, English and art, respectively. Only three of the more than 2,000 Texas Tech undergraduates who take part in some form of research every year, these students were not just washing bottles, running errands and making copies in their respective laboratories. They were participating directly in their professors’ work and contributing to the results produced by the research projects.
“In research universities across the country, a move exists to reinvent the undergraduate research experience,” says John M. Burns, Ph.D., associate vice president for undergraduate research and a professor of biological sciences. “Texas Tech has a long history of undergraduate research. In the 30 years that I have had an active lab in the biology department, I have had undergraduates involved in the research every semester.”
Texas Tech only recently has moved to consolidate and enhance its commitment to undergraduate research by creating an associate vice president-level position. Burns is the first to hold the job, beginning in 2001, after stepping down from his job as provost of the university, a position he held for seven years.
“The benefits of doing undergraduate research are enormous,” he emphasizes. “Students see how the information they are learning in class is generated in the first place. Students also learn to think and to communicate, both orally and in writing. Those are two things that I believe every student should receive from a college education.”
Undergraduate research also can lead a student to a very different decision about his or her major; a choice that Texas Tech Honor’s College Dean Gary Bell, Ph.D., says is an important step in finding the right academic fit for each student. “If a student is a history major, which I was, he or she may begin to work with a professor, convinced that he or she wants to be a historian,” he said. “But once the student starts doing the very tedious, isolated library research that professors of history just love, he or she may learn in a hurry that history is not his or her thing, or at least that history research is not a true interest. As a student, I may still love history, and decide to be a teacher or I may decide that my true talent lies in journalism or interior design or in any number of other fields.”
For Rebekah Starnes, who began her graduate studies in English last fall at Ohio State University, her undergraduate research on a book about the history of childcare workers with Julie Willett, Ph.D., associate professor of history, has led her to pursue a career as an English professor. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after I graduated,” she says. “I knew I wanted to write, but I wanted to eat, too. After a few months of working with Dr. Willett, I thought being a professor wouldn’t be bad. I could do research and write about what excites me, and that I actually could make a living doing it.”
Willett explains that Starnes learned how historical research is done by conducting oral interviews, analyzing articles and other library materials and looking at film clips. All valuable tools for Starnes’ future career, but Willett says perhaps the most life-changing lesson is in seeing how a woman copes with being a young faculty member at a large university.
“Rebekah saw me negotiating two children, ages 2 and 4. She saw me do what had to be done to achieve tenure,” says Willett. “That wasn’t the official aspect of her research, but she saw that juggling family and career is a doable thing. She got a sense of the work culture in the university setting.”
Seeing the so-called “real world” part of art was a major benefit for Erin Wendland-Murphy. “I was able to gain a better understanding of the business and practical sides of being a professional artist,” she recalls. “I saw the importance of creating artwork and the importance of being able to intellectually defend your artwork.”
Rob Glover, M.F.A., associate professor of art, was Wendland-Murphy’s mentor. “Erin worked with me in making pieces, photographing them and shipping them. She saw how my career as an artist worked,” he says. “People don’t always understand that what artists do is research. We don’t just make stuff. We read and think and analyze and try to find innovative ways to create artwork. Erin has a big advantage over a lot of graduate students.”
Wendland-Murphy began pursuing a master’s of fine arts degree last fall at the University of Oregon.
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Darin Bell, who is the son of Texas Tech Honor’s College Dean Gary Bell, Ph.D., worked for more than four years in the laboratory of Robert Bradley, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences. Their research examined the DNA sequencing of harvest mice to determine if any one species of the mouse was genetically predisposed to pass on disease. The personal insight for Darin Bell was that he did not want to do only basic research.
“I loved it, but I determined that I wanted to do more,” he said. “If I had not had that research exposure as an undergraduate, I don’t know if I would have come to the conclusion as an undergraduate that I wanted to concentrate on only being a physician.”
Other programs, in addition to the Texas Tech University Howard Hughes Medical Institute Program, help direct students into undergraduate research. The McNair Scholars Program is focused on first-generation college students. The Clark Scholars Program gives high school students a very early opportunity to work in a Texas Tech professor’s laboratory. Darin Bell was a Clark Scholar and a Texas Tech Howard Hughes Fellow, so his research experience began in Bradley’s lab the summer after he graduated from high school. He credits his five years’ of research experience with helping him not only get into a good medical school, but also in becoming a Goldwater Scholar, a national honor.
The Goldwater Scholarship provides up to $7,500 per year for two years for students in mathematics, science or engineering, who are planning on graduate careers in those fields. These students must meet rigorous academic standards and compete nationally for the award, but conducting solid undergraduate research is a must to win the scholarship. Since 1994, Texas Tech has had 21 students win the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. The university also has had students win the Truman and Gates/Cambridge Fellowships and has had students qualify as finalists for other prestigious national academic competitions, in part because of their research experiences.
Undergraduate research is certainly a resumé builder. Bell, Starnes and Wendland-Murphy all cite their opportunities at Texas Tech as undergraduates as a being a big boost toward their graduate careers and they agree that every student should take part in some sort of research during their undergraduate years. “Undergraduate research offers students an opportunity to try out different areas within their chosen fields of study,” says Wendland-Murphy. “The experience helps you to find and focus on the niche that you will be happiest and most proficient in while still in school.”
Starnes agrees, and emphasizes that students should realize that research is not just for science majors. “Because research in the humanities is undervalued, a program like Texas Tech’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship, is very important. The university is sending the message that our humanities programs are important too, that research being done there is exciting, and that Texas Tech cares enough about undergraduates to let them in on the action of undergraduate humanities research.”
Bell’s point is that research lets an undergraduate find out early in their academic careers if they are on the right career track. “Students should get the experience now, while the pressure is not necessarily on them and they can back out,” says Darin Bell. “It’s hard to say this is not what I want to do after you’re already in graduate school.”
A statement Bell’s father, Gary, couldn’t agree with more. “Nothing makes me more unhappy than to see a student hit my door as a first-week freshman and say, ‘I’m going to be a biochemist,’ and then wanting only to focus on biochemistry,” says Gary Bell. “I tell them, ‘No, what you need to do is spend the next four years being trained as a biochemist, but for heaven’s sake, get into a research lab and find out for sure that your choice is a good fit. And most importantly, take a look at the fine arts, take a brief glimpse at psychology, find out a little bit about the human sciences fields. You may discover that it’s not biochemistry, but something very different that is your real passion.’”
Haragan, who has had many undergraduate students working with him during his long tenure as an atmospheric sciences professor at Texas Tech, says undergraduate research is not just a one-way street with the student receiving all the rewards. “Not only do the students perform valuable work,” he says, “but undergraduates also have a curiosity and ability to ask questions that others, who are more closely involved in the field or the project, might not think to ask.”
Texas Tech undergraduate research mentors Robert Bradley, Rob Glover and Julie Willett agree. “Undergraduates energize my lab. It’s fun for me to see their enthusiasm, and it offers them a tremendous opportunity,” says Bradley.
“Many undergraduates think of a university as a vocational school,” says Glover. “I see the attitude from students that they want the faculty to teach them skills so they can go make money. But what we really want to do is teach the students to think and solve problems. If they can do that, they’ll make money.”
Willett believes that to be successful in undergraduate research, the student must take on a project that fits with his or her interests. “A student needs flexibility and choices. The project must be student-centered. With Rebekah, she became passionately interested in our project and brought her own analysis of the information and questions to the project. It really was like working with a junior colleague.”
For John Burns, the individual leading Texas Tech’s undergraduate research efforts, his vision is to have every student eventually participating in some form of research. “By doing undergraduate research, a student learns the techniques that are particular to his or her own discipline,” he said. “How does that discipline go about the process of inquiry and investigation? How does that discipline then communicate the results from research?”
Much undergraduate research results in the student authoring or co-authoring a publication in an academic journal. Publication is an important factor that gives students an advantage over others applying for graduate schools.
Many students participate each Spring in Texas Tech’s annual Research Days. Research Days began in 1994 as a way for the Texas Tech University Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellows to present their research. The program was opened to all undergraduate research students three years ago, and now some graduate students participate. Last Spring, 300 students gave oral or poster presentations of their research projects. Two-thirds of the students participating were undergraduates.
“Research Days is the culmination of the inquiry and discovery process,” says Burns. “The presentation opportunity gives the students a setting in which they can formally present the results of their research. Participating in Research Days is very similar to presenting research findings at a professional meeting. It’s great experience for these students.”
With every opened textbook, every university student expects that he or she will learn new knowledge. At Texas Tech University, hundreds of undergraduates have the opportunity to help create new knowledge through research. They also discover early in their academic careers to find their true passions for research, their defined interests for study in graduate school, and choices for totally different and unique career paths. Texas Tech undergraduate students are helping to discover the new information that future students will learn in future textbooks, and they are contributing at youthful ages to the wisdoms and truths of the entire world around them.