Aquinas College gives undergraduate students opportunities for summer research programs with a faculty member in their respective areas of study through the Mohler-Thompson Research Program and the Summer Scholars Program.

During the summer of 2014, The Mohler-Thompson Research Program, this summer, took on six student-faculty pairs. The biology department included the teams of student Chuck Hyde and faculty mentor Dr. Clark Danderson; and student Jamaal Tarpeh and faculty mentor Dr. Larry Peters. The chemistry department included student Nick Pierce and faculty mentor Dr. Timothy Henshaw; and student Lindsay Armstrong and faculty mentor Dr. Jonathan Fritz. From mathematics there were the teams of student Kristin Dreyer and faculty mentor Dr. Joe Fox, and student Kyle Jansens and faculty mentor Dr. Michael McDaniel.

The group held various meetings throughout the summer to talk about each teams’ progress as well as other social and scientific discourse. The research teams also attended the West Michigan Regional Undergraduate Science Research Conference hosted by Van Andel Institute in November 2014, and will participate in the Aquinas Student Symposium on April 29, 2015. Several research pairs are planning additional presentations this year, or are working on publications based on their projects.

Chuck Hyde, a senior at AQ, worked this summer with Dr. Danderson researching Synthyris bullii, more commonly known as “kitten-tails.” They looked for this plant in Michigan and assessed its conservational status, while also attempting to assess genetic variability of the populations through various molecular work. The pair added on to previous work done by Drs. Brenda Molano Flores and Katherine Chi from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“I really had fun this summer,” Hyde said. “It was a great experience. I got the opportunity to get real-world experience in biology, going out into the field and searching for a near-extinct plant. I also got to hone my lab skills and learn a few new tricks that I can use in graduate school. I would definitely recommend the Mohler-Thompson to other students.”

Dr. Peters agrees with Hyde, saying that he “HIGHLY recommend Aquinas students to seek the opportunity to get involved with research” not only through Mohler-Thompson and the Summer Scholar’s program, but through various opportunities within Aquinas and other schools throughout West Michigan.

Dr. Peters and Jamaal Tarpeh worked this summer on making genetic tools for collaborators. These tools will be used to examine how the bacteria that colonize the gastrointestinal tract shape of the development of the immune system in Zebrafish. Dr. Peters said “this research has potential impact on the understanding for Crohn’s disease, allergies, asthma, and general immunological development.” His favorite part of the research is being able to work one-on-one with great Aquinas students while remaining active as a scientist.

Dr. McDaniel is also extremely excited about the Mohler-Thompson Research Program. He has been involved each year, usually researching geometry or knot theory, and several of his students have had their research published in various math journals. Dr. McDaniel is publishing a new text book titled Geometry by Construction, which is due out in February 2015. This book is unique because it features Aquinas undergraduate students and their research. “They’re in the index. Not only is this cool for the book,” Dr. McDaniel said, “it’s cool for these students who get to list this reappearance of their work in their list of publications.”

These opportunities for being published give student researchers valuable experience and items for their resumes for graduate school and beyond. During summer 2014, Dr. McDaniel worked with Kyle Jansens discovering ways to construct circles and squares with the same areas in two non-Euclidean geometries, and also proving that circles and squares must be constructed separately. Dr. McDaniel points out that this research is “exciting because constructing a circle and a square of equal area in Euclidean geometry was proved to be impossible in 1882.” This research has challenged students to think outside the box and challenge ways of thinking that have been accepted for years.

Aquinas also offers the Summer Scholars Program for undergraduate research students. During summer 2014, five student-faculty pairs participated in the program. From Sustainable Business there were the teams of student Madeleine Burns and faculty mentor Dr. Deborah Steketee; and student Jamie Sansone and faculty mentor Dr. Krista Badiane. From the School of Education, there was student Cari Hough and faculty mentor Dr. Rui Niu-Cooper. The World Languages team consisted of student Azra Fazil and faculty mentor Dr. Carmen Ruiz-Sanchez.

Students found their projects to be valuable experiences, of which they took ownership, with guidance from the faculty mentor. All of the students reported that they felt the projects had scholarly value, and most said participating in the program helped them with their career plans. All Summer Scholar students are required to present their results, like the students in the Mohler-Thompson Research Program, at the Aquinas Student Research Symposium held every April. Students from both the Mohler-Thompson Research Program and the Summer Scholars Program received stipends for their hard work.

Jamie Sansone, founder of the Keeping Bees club at Aquinas, researched the relationships between beekeeping and sustainable business. In an anthropological style study, Sansone went to apiaries—beekeeping farms—and conducted interviews about the conditions of beekeeping and the products that are being marketed. Through the help of Dr. Badiane, Sansone was able to spend two weeks on an apiary in Costa Rica researching Africanized bees, a more vicious honey bee to what is in America. The relationships Sansone built while researching with interviewees and with Dr. Badiane have been the most valuable part. Many interviewees have lent a helping hand with the Keeping Bees club, including donations and lectures. Dr. Badiane assisted in a way that was very hands-off.

“She was there just enough to be a guide and mentor,” Sansone said, “I felt very accomplished because I did a lot on my own.” Sansone is now applying for the MWest Challenge, a competition where Sansone will write a business plan using her research to figure out how to start her own business, and what products to market.

In addition to the Mohler-Thompson and Summer Scholars Research Programs, Aquinas also provides opportunities for independent research projects. AQ senior Hannah Mahoney began working with Dr. Ben Chihak during her Advanced Research Classes for Psychology. The pair began researching how humans move throughout and adapt to changes in their environment, while focusing on the various inputs that contribute to the recalibration of actions. Mahoney and Dr. Chihak both decided to continue the research, even after the classes had finished. They are currently working on isolating the visual, vestibular, and proprioceptor inputs separately and studying their degree of affect on perception and action.

“I would definitely recommend doing research to other students. Research is a great way to explore your interest, work independently, connect with your professors and use what you’ve learned in areas outside of the classroom setting,” Mahoney said.

Research projects, whether independent or through Mohler-Thompson or Summer Scholars, allow students real-world applications of the knowledge they are learning in their classrooms. It is a way for students to explore their interests and prepare themselves for research they may experience in their graduate studies. “Aquinas College has a sweet set-up for undergraduate research,” said Dr. McDaniel, “which should be cultivated and grown.”