I am really lucky to have two mentors for my research. When I transferred to UMBC in Fall 2013, I started asking questions immediately about how to get involved in internships and undergraduate research. I knew I was behind my peers who had already begun to cultivate relationships with faculty members.

I began by attending office hours with my professors, scouring the faculty web pages in my department, and making appointments with professors whose work I was interested in. I familiarized myself with their work by reading their publications, browsing their websites, or checking out what their graduate students were doing. From many discussions and meetings with different faculty members about their research experience, current work, and my interests, Dr. Holland and I agreed we were a good match. 

As we (The Garden) worked to gain support for our project, I got to know the INDS department faculty. While I am not an INDS student, the INDS faculty is very supportive, and I found a great mentor in Master Gardener and Garden faculty adviser, Jill Wrigley. 

I knew I wanted to do my research centered around the Garden, but I wasn’t sure what direction to take it. I began by reading a lot of scientific literature on community gardens, organic farming, and institutional green spaces. This helped me to focus on the social aspect of what we are doing in the Garden. I continued reading until I found a “gap” in the literature. In my case this was, “Why do people engage in community gardens?” There was a lot of literature about the general benefits of these kinds of spaces, but not specifically about individual users. At the time, the Garden was gaining momentum and support for ProveIT!, and I saw that the students and staff on campus were hungry for this space to become a reality. I wanted to know what their stories were, why the Garden is so deeply desired, and how we can ensure it’s long term success by tapping into these core motivations of engagement. 

Yes. I will receive independent study, upper level credits in my department. Independent research also fulfills the Alternative Learning Experience requirement of the Honors College. 

My first semester here, I attended every single workshop about academic involvement I could. I attended Janet McGlynn’s seminars on Undergraduate and Summer Research more than once. We have terrific personal development resources on campus!

My academic background is diverse. When I transferred to UMBC, my transcript reflected coursework towards three different majors: Fine Arts, Secondary Education (Chemistry), and Environmental Science. When I began working on my URA application, I did not have any upper level courses in my major. I found working closely with my mentors, reading copious amounts of scientific literature, and asking questions about anything I didn’t understand to be my best tools. 

Yes. It took a lot of time, and many many many edits. I went through no fewer than 4 project ideas and 10 application revisions. 

An immense amount. It is not a small commitment for faculty members to agree to be your URA mentor! My mentors read and re-read multiple drafts, suggested new literature or search topics, pointed me in the direction of research methods I needed to familiarize myself with. They provided emotional support when I felt that this application was a futile endeavor. I continue to remain in frequent communication with my mentors, as I ask them to review nearly every step of my process or ask their advice with how to proceed.

Believing I was capable of the work and that my research was valuable. Technically though, it was crafting a concise, educated, well written proposal. The literature review was excruciating, as I read so many studies it was difficult to keep everything straight. The short length of the application meant we had to be ruthless with edits! What began as a 6 page document finally became the 2 page proposal. 

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research? 

Go to professor office hours! Talk to your favorite faculty members! It really does not matter if they are in your declared department or not, the more collaboration the better! Ask every question you think of, actually listen to the answers, and save everything you write (that is what Google Drive is for!). Go to every workshop that your schedule allows. Seek out and use all the campus resources. Everyone is here to help. 

I want to go directly to graduate school, but I am not sure what that will look like yet. I am talking with my mentors about whether a Masters or Doctorate program is right for me, and how I should focus my interests. I want to commit my work to the food system and community service. 

Yes, I came from the Honors Program at Community College of Baltimore County- Essex. They provided excellent support in helping me apply to UMBC and ease the transfer process. I am so excited that they are launching a mentorship program to place community college students with program alumni studying at 4-year institutions.

Read her abstract here...

I was introduced to my mentor through my brother, who previously worked with Dr. Leips. Dr. Leips was also my Professor my first year at UMBC and introduced my second mentor, Chia-Hua Lue.

I did not know this was the project I wanted to do. It took me about 2 years, working under the supervision of my two mentors, to determine what I ultimately wanted to pursue. With the correct guidance and learning opportunities I received in my lab, I was able to become inspired and decide what I wanted to do.

I put roughly around 8-18 hours a week into my project. Since I get credit for my internship, I am required to work in my lab for at least 8 hours. However, there is not an exact time I put into my project. I usually work as many hours as I need to remain informed and on track.

I learned about the URA program from my mentors and peers in my lab (some were already or previously involved in the URA program).

Yes, it required plenty of input and guidance from my mentors and peers. Since this was my first time doing an individual project, I took a lot of time reading research papers to determine how I wanted to address my project in the application. I also had to get my application revised multiple times by my mentor to ensure my explanations and responses were on par.

The hardest part about my research was picking a hypothesis and knowing where to begin. It took quite a bit of brainstorming, reading, and discussing to decide what I wanted to do and how I was going to conduct my study in a reasonable manner.

My advice to other students getting involved with research would be to ask a great deal of questions and be prepared to make a lot of mistakes. Take time to do your own research to fully understand your study. 

I looked on the biological sciences website and e-mailed the professors who had research most closely related to my interest. Dr. Leips emailed back about an interview and I proceeded to visit the lab. Once I expressed interest, he checked for lab space and accepted me as a student.

I started on an ecology project in my lab under the graduate student Chia-Hua, and though this was an awesome experience. I switched projects after my first full year in the lab. I switched to a project more so related to the medical field because of my aim to earn a DPT/PhD degree.

No, I have worked on independent research at my past two summer internships, however this was my first time being very hands on with experimental design, guided by Dr. Leips and Mariann G.

Yes, I get course credit for lab participation.

From week to week the time varies, but I would say an average of ten hours a week.

One of the older students in my lab received it the year before me and gave a brief description of what it entailed. Dr. Leips also mentioned that it would be a good opportunity.

I was a junior biology major with reasonable grades.

The application was not difficult it just required thought.

My mentor reviewed my application for statement accuracy and typos.

The hardest part about my research was the experimental design (figuring out how to test certain variables).

The most unexpected thing was the awesome group of people I had the chance to work with while doing the project and the extensive amount of research skills I practiced (ex. Writing, presenting, data analysis, bench work).

Recently, I had a class that was very focused on learning how to read papers, present work, write scientific papers, and construct experiments. Many upper level biology classes center around skills that will benefit a person who wants to be successful in the research world. Therefore having previous research experiences aids students by better preparing them to be able to think differently when it comes to problem solving.

I am also involved in UMBC Varsity cheer, and from time to time I like going to BSU and ASA meetings and activities. I am also involved in scholarship programs that support research (ex. Meyerhoff/MARC/HHMI).

I would advise students to start looking for opportunities in labs on campus as early in their UMBC career as possible. Also I would encourage people to keep an open mind when it comes to research topics because there are so many topics in science to experience and an unexpected passion may be found when trying new types of research.