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First, please read: "Gratuitous advice on weaseling into a reasearch lab". You must take Bio 2 and Bio 34 (Evolution) before you may begin a project in my laboratory. If you are interested in participating in an ongoing project, or have ideas on a new experiment, please stop by my lab for a quick tour. Research can be done in the context of a Bio 180 (Honors Thesis research), a Bio 94 (Independent Research), or simply a paid summer job. With all of these options you must start a semester early (even if on an informal basis) so that you can learn about your chosen organism, order critical articles via interlibrary loan, order obscure chemicals, and troubleshoot needed techniques prior to the start of the summer. There are some stipends available for summer projects (see the Biology Department's web site for more information). Summer research projects can be continued into to the next academic year (most students use the summer data to continue with a Bio 94 credit in the Fall semester). Bio 94 projects (described in more detail in the Biology Majors Handbook) conclude with a 10-15 page write-up and sometimes (depending on the credit level) a 20-minute slide presentation. A Bio 94 gives you experience in research, data analysis, writing, and scientific presentations--skills that every Biology major should graduate with. Bio 94 projects typically involve at least 10 hours/week in the laboratory. A successful Bio 94 project is largely dependent on sticking to a schedule so that you have plenty of time to think about your data, prepare a written report, and prepare an oral presentation. A typical schedule (exact dates change each year) is as follows (excluding the time during previous semesters getting ready for the project):
See "Research on parasitic Cuscuta", "Current and future projects", and "Past projects" to learn more about the specific types of research in my laboratory.
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