Museum highlights UC’s student research opportunities
A video at the Cincinnati Museum Center showcases UC student work on sensory ecology
A local museum is highlighting a summer research program at the University of Cincinnati that invites students from across the country to the UC campus to work with faculty on sensory ecology projects.
The Cincinnati Museum Center created a new video exhibit showcasing students working on UC’s sensory ecology projects in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program.
UC biology professor Stephanie Rollmann said the project highlights opportunities that visiting students get to conduct original research in UC’s labs.
“It brings in 10 students nationally from across the United States to do research in faculty labs in sensory ecology,” Rollmann said.
The Cincinnati Museum Center is showcasing UC student research in a video across from its popular Cave exhibit. Pictured are UC biologists Stephanie Rollmann and John Layne, left, and Brian Pollock, manager of STEM resources at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Photo/Michael Miller
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Students from across the nation are invited to apply to UC’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program on sensory ecology that runs from May 30 to Aug. 4, 2023. Application review begins Feb. 1, with a final application deadline on Feb 17.
UC students wishing to explore summer research opportunities can check out the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduate page, which offers a global search by subject of interest.
Students work with faculty mentors in their labs to gain research experience in the program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The varied projects include topics like echolocation in bats, the migration of monarch butterflies or the taste buds of blind Mexican cavefish like those the museum has on display in an aquarium across from the UC exhibit.
Each video was produced by a collaborative trio, with one visiting student joining a student in UC’s Department of Communication, and a student in UC’s Digital Media Collaborative, which is a degree program in which students take classes in three colleges to learn the skills needed to become digital storytellers.
Visiting students conducted research in sensory ecology using models such as fiddler crabs and blind cavefish.
The visiting students shared the scientific knowledge they acquired doing research in Biology with Communication students mentored by Autumn Miller, and with Digital Media Collaborative students under the direction of Mike Gasaway; together they crafted a story and designed the visuals to create the educational videos featured by the museum.
Brian Pollock, manager of STEM resources for the museum, said the videos show how fun and accessible research is compared to many depictions in pop culture.
“Videos like these help children to see themselves as scientists,” Pollock said. “The students in these videos are doing real science and having fun doing it. That authentic energy excites our visitors and shows them how scientists are normal people and not just stuffy old men in lab coats like they might see on TV.”
Students in the program study sensory perception and how it guides behavior using model animals such as bobwhite quail, snakes, spiders, fruit flies, and fiddler crabs.
The exhibit on UC’s student research fits in with other museum exhibits which are designed to be interactive to engage visitors, particularly children, Pollock said.
“Our interest in sharing this collaboration is to show that the Cincinnati Museum Center is a research organization. We do our own scientific research here, from paleontology to zoology to genetic research,” Pollock said. “And we partner with institutions like the University of Cincinnati.”
Featured image at top: Visiting student Zaria Griffith works with bobwhite quail in UC assistant professor Elizabeth Hobson's lab as part of UC's Research Experience for Undergraduates program sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Photo/UC Digital Media Collaborative
UC College of Arts and Sciences biologists Stephanie Rollmann and John Layne worked with visiting students in UC's Research Experience for Undergraduates program. The students' work is being highlighted at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Photo/Michael Miller
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