'Research Experience for Undergraduates' program:

An immersion in aquatic research

Posted: September 22, 2008

REU student Katie Stevens worked in the lab of scientist Jim Waples, applying radiometric techniques to the study of groundwater.

Like many college students, Katie Stevens spent part of this past summer at the beach. But the junior chemistry major from Carthage College was doing more than just soaking up the sun—she was doing research.

Stevens is one of eight undergraduate students who participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Great Lakes WATER Institute’s (GLWI) Center for Great Lakes Studies (CGLS) this year.

Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the 10-week program provides students the opportunity to perform hands-on aquatic research under the guidance of scientist mentors. Through lab work, field work, and written and oral presentations, students experience the life of a researcher firsthand.

“They get to immerse themselves in research and see what it’s all about,” says Carmen Aguilar, GLWI scientist and the program’s co-director.

Hands-on research opportunities

Stevens’ project had her collecting samples of Lake Michigan water from several beach locations, and then analyzing those samples back in the lab using radiometric techniques. The purpose of the project, which Stevens worked on with scientist Jim Waples, was to test a new approach for tracking the seepage of groundwater into Lake Michigan.

Another student, Tony Thrasher, worked in the lab of scientist Rudi Strickler. A senior majoring in math and environmental studies at Hamline University, Thrasher helped develop an inexpensive camera setup for filming zooplankton underwater. He also collected samples of the tiny crustaceans and shot demonstration videos of them in the lab.

Along with doing their individual projects, the REU students participated in group activities, including two Lake Michigan cruises on GLWI’s 71-foot research vessel Neeskay. Aboard the ship, students collected samples of water, sediment, and plankton, and viewed the lake depths through the camera of a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV.

“I really enjoyed being able to go out on the Neeskay for a couple of days,” says Thrasher. “It was fun to be a part of the hands-on side of collecting samples.”

Tony Thrasher worked with scientist Rudi Strickler to design a camera setup for filming zooplankton.

“Most students have not done anything like that,” adds scientist Russell Cuhel, the program’s other co-director. “It’s an unusual and eye-opening experience for them.”

Between the group cruises and cruises for individual research projects, students in GLWI/CGLS’s REU program rack up between 50 and 60 ship days each summer—substantially more than any other REU site in the country, says Cuhel.

A model program

GLWI/CGLS also holds the distinction—shared with only one other site in the country—of having hosted REU students annually since 1988, the year NSF launched the program.

Cuhel has been at the helm of GLWI/CGLS’s program since 1992, and was joined by Aguilar in 1998. Thanks in no small part to their efforts, GLWI/CGLS’s program is considered the model for other REU sites in NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences.

More than 200 undergraduates have participated in the REU program at GLWI/CGLS over its 20-year history. The students come from all corners of the country, and, as of this year, from Puerto Rico. Their educational backgrounds are just as varied: “We get students from practically every area—from molecular biology to policy to physical sciences,” says Cuhel.

Along with helping those students sharpen their scientific skills and lab and field techniques, GLWI/CGLS’s program also teaches them about career development. The students develop their résumés, conduct mock job searches, learn about graduate school, and meet former REU students who discuss the paths they took to their own current careers.

The program also strongly stresses networking, says Aguilar. Students connect with their peers and meet resident and visiting scientists and staff. In addition, one student is selected each year to travel with Aguilar and Cuhel to a national scientific meeting, where they present a poster of their work and have the opportunity to meet researchers from around the country.

Prepared for the future

Both Stevens and Thrasher credit GLWI/CGLS’s REU program with teaching them about the nuts-and-bolts activities of research—things like sampling, data analysis, and scientific writing. But they say they learned broader lessons as well.

Stevens, who says she once had a vague impression of a scientist as a person in a white lab coat with a pipette in hand, says she now has a much more realistic view of researchers and the research process—setbacks included. “Research doesn’t always happen in a sterile white room where everything works,” she says. “Sometimes it happens on a dirty beach where the pump keeps getting clogged and the generator stalls.”

Thrasher says he gained a better grasp of how much time, funding, and dedication it takes to be a scientist.

Both students say the experience has gotten them thinking seriously about the career paths they’d like to pursue in the future.

Indeed, many of the program’s students go on to complete advanced degrees, says Aguilar, and more than half pursue work in aquatic or other environmental sciences. In fact, Cuhel tells of one undergraduate who initially planned to be a pharmaceutical chemist, but changed her focus to marine chemistry after completing the REU program.

“We’ve had students that have entirely changed their career path based on this summer experience,” he says.

For more information about GLWI/CGLS's REU program, visit www.glwi.uwm.edu/education/reu.

–Jennifer Yauck