91制片厂

Students from the Biotechnology Program at Dover High School visited the 91制片厂 campus to learn about graduate level research. The visit was organized by the 91制片厂 Women in Science Group.

Lauren Koenig describes the high-tech equipment in the 91制片厂鈥檚 Water Quality Analysis Laboratory as "pieces of a puzzle." University scientists and students use the lab to analyze water samples from around the world, including specimens found on campus and those shipped all the way from Siberia.

鈥淓ach piece of the puzzle allows us to put together a whole picture of a stream,鈥� says Koenig of the traditional machinery interspersed with robotic accessories used to help measure the nutrient composition of the water. 鈥淎nd these chemical parameters enable us to understand what鈥檚 happening on a biological scale,鈥� she says.

On this day, Koenig, a first-year Ph.D. student of natural resources with a focus on stream and river biogeochemistry, explains her research methods to a group of honors students visiting from Dover High School. This field trip is part of the high school鈥檚 Biotechnology Program and affords the high-schoolers a first-hand view of high-level science research.

Recently, Koenig became one of four 91制片厂 students to receive the highly competitive National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship, which helps to fund her international research. In addition to her research, she feels passionately about sharing her interest with future environmental scientists such as today鈥檚 enthusiastic visitors.

鈥淚 never thought I鈥檇 study chemistry,鈥� Koenig tells the students, 鈥渂ut I found that I could use it in an environmental application . . . and that really excites me.鈥�

Liz Taylor, a science teacher in the Biotechnology Program at Dover High School, knows her students have expressed an interest in someday doing research in the life sciences or biotechnology. Taylor looks around at the equipment in the Water Quality Analysis Lab and says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 cool that my students get to see all of these applications outside of the high school lab.鈥�

Under the direction of Koenig and Bianca Rodriguez, a classmate of Koenig in the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, the biotechnology students collected water samples and other data from College Brook. They used various instruments to examine dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH levels and conductivity.

Their research on this urban stream, which wends its way through campus as a tributary of the Oyster River, will become part of a long-term data set at 91制片厂.

Rodriguez, originally from Puerto Rico, came to 91制片厂 specifically to work with COLSA鈥檚 Professor of Natural Resources and the Environment Bill McDowell. 鈥淧rofessor McDowell is well known in the field, and I knew I鈥檇 be able to do excellent research with him at 91制片厂,鈥� says Rodriguez who is currently studying nitrogen and carbon dynamics in the Lamprey River watershed.

In addition to visiting the Water Quality Analysis Laboratory at James Hall, the students also enjoyed presentations at the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, the MacFarlane Greenhouse Facility and various labs throughout campus. Graduate students 鈥� including Megan Seneca, Liz Hodgdon, Lindsay Green, Hannah Traggis, Yvette Garner, Lesley Atwood, and Sara Edquist 鈥� dedicated their time and energy to give the high school students a glimpse into the many different streams of inquiry听down which a STEM education can take you and how such studies impact the greater community.

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