URAP Student Spotlight: Emily Searles

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The Undergraduate Research Assistants Program (URAP) is a program where students work one on one with a faculty member on a research project together. Students apply their senior year of high school and can work on their research program for four years. Emily Searles, a sophomore at Roanoke College, is a URAP student working in the chemistry department. Her topic investigates nanocrystals and their use for fluorescence in LEDs and other forms of light. Emily’s work involves making copper indium sulfide nanocrystals with a silver gallium shelling and then optimizing the fluorescence in the crystals. She then changes different variables in the experiment to see the differences.
Emily learned that working with her project adviser, Dr. Hughes, was a big help.

“It is great working with a professor because they understand what you know and what you need to learn while doing research and really help to propel you forward in the department.”

To anyone considering doing research, Emily says:

“Research is a great way to develop skills outside of the classroom that will be beneficial in helping gain real world experience in the lab. The opportunities Roanoke gives students are outstanding and as a student you can fully encompass Roanoke through research”

Roanoke College student conducts research on walking patterns

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The Undergraduate Research Assistants Program (URAP) is a program where students work one on one with a faculty member on a research project together. Students apply their senior year of high school and can work on their research program for four years. Annaliese LaDuke, a sophomore at Roanoke College, is one of the students in the URAP program. She works in the Health and Human Performance Department with Dr. Rearick on the project: “Understanding the Choices We Make: A Psychological, Physiological, and Kinematic Examination of Human Motion”. Annaliese first became interested in doing research when she was applying to URAP before her freshman year.

“Dr. Rearick’s really stuck out to me. I have always been really interested in and curious about knowing why things work the way they do, especially the human body, so this project seemed like a great way to explore that interest further.”

Annaliese and Dr. Rearick’s project seeks to determine how people select their preferred walking pace. Annaliese tests the subjects walking on a treadmill at different paces and has the subjects rate their perceived level of exertion, energy, and comfort; she then records the data.

“Last semester I was working alongside Annie Shreckhise, another URAP student of Dr. Rearick’s, and assisting her in her study that concentrated on measuring patients’ respiratory gases and the paces at which they are most efficient. This semester, I am doing a continuation of that to determine if there are any statistical differences between selecting a preferred pace with or without a loaded backpack, and also between the pace at which one is most efficient and one’s preferred pace.”

Annaliese has really enjoyed her time working with Dr. Rearick:

“I love getting to work with Dr. Rearick one-on-one because I feel like I learn so much from talking to him about his experiences and when we are covering new material, we can go at a pace at which I learn best. Dr. Rearick is the best professor to work with because he acknowledges all of the other things I have going on outside of research, and he plans our research accordingly. He is very caring and has his students’ best interest at heart. I am never just left to figure things out on my own, but Dr. Rearick also challenges me and helps me grow academically in this way.”

Annaliese strongly encourages current and incoming students to get involved in research.

“If [you] don’t know what [your] interests are, I would tell them to pick anything that peaks [your] interest. [You] can always spend some time in a lab and figure out whether or not [you] want to continue that kind of work. If not, there are so many other labs and opportunities at Roanoke where students can get involved in research. But I think everyone should consider trying it, because it gets you thinking and learning in a way that is so different from what is done in a classroom setting.”

Roanoke College conducts summer research on tuberculosis

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Lydiah Mpyisi, a senior at Roanoke College, was one of the students who did research on campus during Summer 2015. Lydiah worked in the Chemistry Department on an independent research project. Her research focused on a better understanding of the four putative Glutamine synthetases found in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent for tuberculosis disease. Lydiah decided to pursue the project because of her interest in medicine and desire to get experience doing laboratory work. She became involved in Dr. Johann’s research work, which focuses on finding potential targets for drugs against tuberculosis.

Lydiah spent her time conducting experiments, doing literature research, and updating her lab notebook. She’s enjoyed working together with Dr. Johann on the project.

“He is always available to answer any questions or concerns that I may have, regardless of whether they are research related or career related questions. In addition, I have been able to fit research hours into my schedule and sometimes Dr. Johann stays late just to help me conduct my research. I would say being involved in on-campus research is one of the best experiences that I’ve had in my undergraduate experience so far.”

Lydiah’s favorite part of her project are the times when experiments go late into the night.

“I stay in the lab until midnight setting up an experiment that needs to run through the night, and then I find positive results the following morning. I’m usually filled with joy and lots of satisfaction from my hard work.”

For people considering research, Lydiah says:

“Research will lead you into numerous opportunities that you never anticipate. It is through my research experience that I got an internship with Novozymes – an international biotechnology company. I used my research for my honors project and now I’m in the process of earning an honors in Biology through the same research. In addition, I earned class credit through the same research and ended up earning a minor in Chemistry without having planned for it.”

Roanoke College student interviewed by Roanoke Times about summer research

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Molly Trosch, a senior at Roanoke College, is one of the students who did research at Roanoke College over the summer. Molly works in the History department with Dr. Miller and Dr. Leeson. The project involves taking artifacts from Explore Park, a closed state park, and housing them in educational settings. Molly became involved with the project after hearing her friends talk about the project last semester.

Molly helps fill out the paperwork associated with the artifacts. Afterwards, she takes a photo of the artifact and attaches a tag to identify it. She also meets with people interested in taking in some of the artifacts for education.

Molly enjoyed working with her project advisers.

“Working with Dr. Miller and Dr. Leeson helped me learn about what the museum and archiving world is actually like, plus I got to learn a lot about the artifacts and the time period they came from.”

One of Molly’s favorite moments from the project was being interviewed by the Roanoke Times with Dr. Miller.

“It was such a fun experience being able to show the reporters (and the Roanoke area!) what I’ve put so much work and effort into. It was really fun and incredibly special.”

To anyone thinking about doing research, Molly says:

“Just go for it! If you are especially interested in what your friends or your professors are doing, ask them about it. Cool projects and experience opportunities like these tend to be hard to find, but if you do find one, do it. What have you got to lose?”

To see the interview with Molly, click the link below

https://www.roanoke.com/news/local/salem/roanoke-college-to-turn-clay-street-house-into-th-century/article_99b13751-babf-5164-8bc4-f1d864539513.html

Roanoke College Student Conducts Research Near Myrtle Beach

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Dionys Beck, a senior at Roanoke College majoring and physics and minoring in math, travelled to Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina over the summer to conduct research. During his 10 weeks at Coastal, Dionys assisted a graduate student’s research project. The project studied the dispersion of rainwater runoff through an offshore outfall into the ocean front.

“I first had to study up on the theory behind the research, which was a lot of fluid mechanics. During the time I was there the project was in the experimental design phase. I was responsible for testing instruments that would later be used for the experimental deployment. Testing the instruments resulted in a lot of data being collected, so it was my job to learn how to use various computer programs (MATLAB mostly) to organize and plot the results of the tests.”

Dionys’ favorite part of the program was going out in the marshes and testing the salinity and temperature of the water.

“It was important to get accurate measurements because my data was used to ensure that the instruments would get quality readings during the month long deployment. It was exciting to see the end result of my work actually making an impact and being used to further the research project.”

Dionys’ advice to incoming and current students is to get involved in undergraduate research.

“If your plan is to attend graduate school or go into a science related field, there is nothing else you can do to better prepare yourself. Not only will it look great on a resume, but it will let you apply the knowledge you have learned at Roanoke College to real life situations.”

Summer Scholars Introduction: Courtney Yoke and Adam Ferguson

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The Summer Scholar program enrolled thirteen students in 2015. Today we introduce the last two scholars that have yet to be covered on our blog: Courtney Yoke and Adam Ferguson.

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Courtney Yoke

Courtney Yoke is a junior at Roanoke College, majoring in Psychology. She is from Mentor, Ohio where she attended Hawken High School. Courtney has been a member of the cyberpsychology research lab, under the direction of Dr. Denise Friedman, since the second semester of her freshman year. In that time, she has co-authored two posters, one of which she was the first author. Courtney is also a member of Psi Chi and a part of the Roanoke College Honors Program.

Courtney’s project is titled: “Bringing Back the Night: Examining Whether Time Away from Technology Influences Well-Being and Reflection in Emerging Adults”. Her project examined the argument researchers have made about the impossibility of functioning without technology in modern times. Courtney collected and analyzed data on young adults about their reflection on their time away from their technology.

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Adam Ferguson

Adam Ferguson is a senior at Roanoke College, majoring in art. He enjoys painting, drawing, and sculpture, but also enjoys working on art digitally. When he is not busy with his major, Adam plays soccer, works with music, and volunteers. He is also the president of the Men’s Club Soccer Team at Roanoke College and a member of the co-ed acapella group: The Roanotes.

Adam’s project is titled: “A Sense of Emotion”. His project involved artistic exploration of the human body, in which he connected human physiology and human emotion. Adam created drawings, paintings, sculptures, and sketches of the human body. He also conducted textual research, consulted with his project advisor, Dr. Shortridge, and made visits to art galleries for inspiration. Adam’s goal was to take the understanding of the human body to a heightened level through exposure and experience.

Roanoke College Senior Conducts and Presents Research at UC Davis

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Over the summer of 2015, Maya Shende, a senior at Roanoke College, decided to do a Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) at UC Davis in Davis, California. She worked in Justin Siegel’s lab in the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Center along with eight other undergraduates.

Maya participated in a ten week program that involved time in North Carolina, California, and Washington. During her first week, Maya went to Raleigh, North Carolina to learn about the Rosetta codebase, a molecular biology/chemistry codebase. Most of her time in the program, however, was spent at UC Davis working on her research project.

“My project involved protein-protein and protein-small molecule interfaces. I was looking at the contacts made between two docked proteins or a protein docked with a small molecule, to see if there was a way to quantify the number of contacts in order to further understanding of protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions. All of this work was done computationally and all of the docking simulations were run using the Rosetta code.”

For the last week of the REU, Maya went to Seattle, Washington, where she and eight other undergraduates presented their research. One of Maya’s favorite parts of the summer was the conference in Seattle.

“RosettaCon was one of the coolest conferences I have ever been to. First, I was essentially surrounded by celebrities in the world of computational molecular biology and computational chemistry. I spent a week having intellectual conversations with some of the forerunners of the field and learning so much every day. Second, presenting my work to such esteemed scholars in the field was a great experience. Not only did I get an opportunity to better my presentation skills, but I also got great feedback about different routes I could take with my research.”

Maya’s advice to anyone interested in research is to start early.

“The more research you do as an undergraduate, the more you learn and more competitive you will be after graduating. Research is also a great way to learn things that you can’t learn in a classroom environment. It is a way to explore topics that are interesting to you, and apply what you learn in your classes to coming up with solutions to real problems!”

Recent Roanoke College Graduate presents her research in Cheney, Washington

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In April 2015, Lydia Delamatta, a recent Roanoke College graduate went to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Cheney, Washington. Lydia worked with the Public Affairs department on her project titled “Discrimination Stops Here: How Education Affects Gender Political Equality Across Democratic Nations”. Lydia became involved in research after meeting Dr. O’Keef at a professional development panel organized by the Public Affairs Society. The two then worked together on their project.
Lydia enjoyed her time working with Dr. O’Keef:

“Working one on one with a professor is honestly the best way to learn, and when working with Dr. O’Keef, you feel like your research matters. Working one on one, I was able to ask all the questions I needed to as well as develop a professional relationship. Dr. O’Keef, along with all of the Public Affairs professors, truly bend over backwards to help us cultivate our skills and thoughts, and to perfect our projects, and independent study projects help you recognize their dedication.”

When we asked what Lydia’s favorite part of the conference was she had a hard time choosing one but ultimately decided that presentation day was the best:

“Overall, in the span of only a few hours, I had made two professional connections, both because of the work I had put in with Dr. O’Keef in developing this quantitative research project. I was able to represent myself and Roanoke College at this conference, and I would like to think that on that day I honored both.”

To anyone who hasn’t done research or is thinking about it, Lydia says:

“Definitely get involved in the Undergraduate Research program at Roanoke College and Summer Scholars, and get involved with a professor you would like to work with and ask for their mentorship with a research project. If you have a great work ethic and you ask one of your professors about an undergraduate research project they will help you, either by mentoring you, or finding you the best professor for your topic. Seriously they really will.”

Roanoke College Students Travel to Snowbird, Utah for Biology Conference

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Pictured above from left to right: Alex Kramer, Ben Walker, Seth Fortmann, and Rebecca Hudon

Roanoke College students Alex Kramer, Ben Walker, Seth Fortmann, and Rebecca Hudon traveled to Snowbird, Utah in mid-July of 2015. They attended the 74th Annual Meeting for the Society for Developmental Biology to present their research. Seth recently graduated from Roanoke College and works at Johns Hopkins University. Three current students, Ben, Alex, and Rebecca, were interviewed about their research experience.

Ben’s research topic was investigating the effects of atrazine on embryonic zebrafish development. He decided to do this research after finishing a similar study on estrogen. Ben won the award for Best Undergraduate Presentation, Honorable Mention and was one of only four undergraduate students to win an award at the conference.

Rebecca’s topic was assessing estrogenic pollution in the Roanoke River using embryonic zebrafish as a bioindicator. She decided on this topic because of her previous experience on the topic during her work in the lab and looks forward to her future endeavors.

Alex’s research topic is about aquatic toxicity of a dental sealant compound. He chose that topic because of its relevance to public health and the large impact it can cause on the industry.

When asked about how it is to work one on one with a professor, Alex said:

“I really enjoy working with Dr. Lassiter because [of] how accessible he is. Whenever I get to a new stage in my research, Dr. Lassiter has always been very helpful in explaining what I need to do next. After we decide what to do next, I am actually running the experiments and am collecting data on my own and at my own pace. Once the data has been finished being collected, we will meet together to analyze and interpret the results together”

Rebecca stated that her favorite part about presenting her research was the feedback she got from other researchers.

“While talking about my research with others I was often given advice about procedures and asked questions that I had not previously considered. These interactions have helped to shape the future of my project.”

Ben’s advice to any students who haven’t gotten involved in research is to find a field that interests you and approach any faculty who performs research that may interest you.

“Being able to use knowledge you learn from the classroom to make an impact, no matter how big, on your specific field is an extremely rewarding process.”

Summer Scholars Introduction: Natalie Wilkson, Phillip Barbolla, and Benjamin Walker

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The Summer Scholars program enrolled thirteen students for 2015. Three of them are Natalie Wilkson, Phillip Barbolla, and Benjamin Walker.

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Natalie Wilkson

Natalie Wilkson is a senior at Roanoke College majoring in Math and Computer Science. She is planning on going to graduate school after graduation. She is the current president of Mu Beta Psi, the national honorary musical fraternity, the vice president of RCSCACM, the computer science club, a member of Pi Mu Epsilon, and is in the mathematics honorary society. Natalie has a strong interest in music and computer science and loves when the two combine together.

Natalie’s project is titled: “Optical Music Recognition using Hidden Markov Models”. In her project, Natalie will be using optical music recognition (OMR), a program similar to Optical character recognition (OCR) that converts images of text to actual text documents. OMR has often showed poor performance in comparison to OCR, however, there are algorithms that show promise for OMR. One of those algorithms is HMM which Natalie will use to see if HMM improves the performance of OMR.

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Phillip Barbolla

Phillip Barbolla is a senior and mathematics major in the Honors program, attending Roanoke College as a Bittle scholar. He is pursuing a psychology minor and neuroscience concentration. Phillip is also active in several clubs and activities such as Habitat for Humanity, Roanoke College Student Chapter of the Mathematical Association of America, and the national mathematics honors society. He has also worked as a calculus teaching assistant and served on the Honors executive board. In his spare time Phillip enjoys hiking, purchasing nerdy apparel from the internet, and getting a little too competitive while watching Jeopardy.

Phillip’s project is titled: “Optimizing Course Offerings with Genetic Algorithms and Particle Swarm Optimization”. Phillip will apply genetic algorithms and particle swarm optimization to the problem of scheduling. By doing so, Phillip hopes to develop a system that can minimize potential conflicts in MCSP department course offerings, adaptable to other departments and institutions.

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Benjamin Walker

Ben Walker is a senior at Roanoke College majoring in Biology and Chemistry. Native to the Roanoke area, Ben decided to go to Roanoke College as a pre-med student. Ben got involved in research under Dr. Lassiter his freshmen year and continues to do so now. Ben enjoys his research with Dr. Lassiter and believes that doing research will help him with linking academic work and real world applications. On his free time, Ben enjoys playing sports with his friends or tutoring students.

Ben’s project is titled: “Effects of Atrazine on the Development of Craniofacial Cartilage, Skull Sutures, and the Heart in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)”. In his project, Ben will be handling atrazine, an herbicide that has been stated to effect developing organisms. In order to test this hypothesis, Ben will be treating zebrafish embryos with different concentrations of atrazine and examining developmental defects it causes in the zebrafish.