For Students

Interested in a career in the sciences? Here's a secret: Undergraduate research is very important, almost as or sometimes more important than your GPA, in admission to graduate school and consequent opportunities in your career path of choice. Students who show initiative and interest in conducting research will learn the nature of research more readily than those who do not, and thus we encourage you to talk with your faculty advisor and read on to learn more about research opportunities available on-campus!

Rhode Island College and the Office of Research and Grants Administration strongly support the role of undergraduate students in contributing to and engaging in research programs, whether supported by external funding or as part of College curricula. For students interested in undergraduate research opportunities, we recommend undergraduate research resource WebGURU, which is the product of a National Science Foundation-sponsored collaboration. WebGURU is a comprehensive detailing of every aspect of undergraduate research and for all perspectives.

Campus Research Opportunities

Sarah Spinette

Welcome undergraduate and masters students to world of research! Scientific research is a process that is very hard to relay in the lecture hall, it really requires a "hands on" learning experience. Maybe you have been sitting in class one day wondering ...'how do they know that these protein motors are what make a muscle contract?....or how did they discover that troponin is the "oar" that "rows" the myosin in a muscle cell?" This is what research is all about, making new discoveries into the complexity of living processes. If you've ever asked questions like this then you should give research a try!

The general focus of the research in my lab is the investigation of a particular eukaryotic protein called Ufd2a. In particular, we are interested in examining it's role in the process of muscle cell differentiation and function and also in the development of the heart. We use various molecular and cellular biology techniques and will also start an organismal project that will involve zebrafish. If you have an interest in the microscopic machinery that makes these cells function come speak to me anytime! I will have summer internships available 2007 and 2008 and may have openings in the lab during the semester.

Sarah Spinette
sspinette@ric.edu
x8907

Roland deGouvenain

The Forest Ecology Lab gives an opportunity to RIC students to conduct field research on the ecology of New England forests. The lab investigates the dynamics of these forests with a combination of field demography data, dendrochronology (analysis of tree cores), and population modeling. Of particular interest is how human activities influence tree regeneration and ultimately forest composition. We are developing collaborative relationships with the Division of Forest Environment (part of DEM) in Rhode Island and with Yale Forest in Connecticut to conduct research on land they manage. We will be using the Rhode Island College greenhouse to conduct experiments with tree seedlings of various New England species. There will also be opportunities to do research in Baja California in collaboration with the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico. If you are interested in combining field, lab and greenhouse research to enrich your student experience, please contact me (Biology).

Roland deGouvenain
rdegouvenain@ric.edu
x8908

Undergraduate Research For Faculty