High schoolers and undergrads contribute to research with a local impact

Trekking through Costa Rica to reestablish migration trails on farmland, island hopping, and mountain climbing across the Galapagos Islands, analyzing the ecological integrity of Crabtree Creek — the biology department at Raleigh's William Peace University really has been everywhere.

With an emphasis on immersive learning and hands-on instruction, students at WPU have the opportunity to participate directly in meaningful research and educational experiences, some of which have a local impact. And since 2017, the school has invited local high schoolers to join in on some of this research.

"These summer camps for high schoolers happen in departments across campus, but in biology, my colleagues and I offer a four-day workshop, which introduces high school students to the fundamentals of ecosystem ecology and the scientific method, in addition to exposing them to hands-on research in the field and the laboratory," said Lisa Bonner, Ph.D., department chair of science and mathematics and biology professor at WPU. "One of our overarching initiatives at William Peace is this concept of immersive or experiential learning, so the students are quite literally immersed in a creek for a good part of the day to collect data on physicochemical and biological parameters, then they come back to the lab to analyze that data. We've had many of those kids come to school here because they had such a great experience."

The summer camp research helps contribute to a long-term research study led by Bonner, her colleague Dr. Patrick Myer, and undergraduate students in the Biology and Environmental Studies programs at WPU. By studying the ecological integrity of Crabtree Creek in such a hands-on capacity, students are exposed to the tasks and challenges they might face if they were to pursue a career as an ecologist, chemist, researcher and more.

In some of these research-based classes, students spend the fall semester collecting data and the spring semester analyzing that data. Then they present their research findings at a state or national conference. Their work on Crabtree Creek, in particular, has helped students find careers after graduation.

"Crabtree Creek is a well-studied stream. The North Carolina Department of Water Quality, the EPA — they're all over that stream because it's part of the Neuse River watershed. In fact, a couple of our students that have done research with us have gone on to work with the North Carolina Water Quality Department and continue to monitor the creek," said Bonner. "These entities do more high-powered analysis, especially in the water chemistry realm than we do, but we've had a long-term study on PCBs in the stream. Because this is a local site, it gives our students this unique exposure and experience and the chance to learn more about different branches of science, from identifying aquatic organisms to learning water chemistry techniques.”

WPU graduate Janna Joyner now works at Abbott Laboratories as a clinical project manager within structural heart cardiology devices and owns a small business called Symbio Dog Training. She credits her undergrad research — investigating the PCB accumulation in trophic levels within an EPA superfund watershed in the Raleigh area— as laying the foundation for her future success.

"Because they are insoluble, PCBs tend to deposit in the sediments, which then act as a reservoir for long-term release into the surface water ecosystems. They are resistant to degradation and are insoluble, so are not excreted from the body and tend to accumulate in fat tissue, where they spread through biological magnification from small invertebrate organisms all the way up the food chain — potentially to humans," said Joyner. "Because WPU students had done research on Crabtree Creek and noted an alarming increase in the number of these postings indicating that fish were not safe to eat at all, we were interested in the extent to which PCBs had permeated this watershed.”

Not all of WPU's immersive educational experiences are local, though — students in certain science courses get to experience the lab portion of the class in a totally different country. For example, in Costa Rica, students travel to different sites in the country, doing everything from hiking in rainforests to identifying species they've studied about to helping monitor loggerhead turtles on the coast as they come onshore to lay eggs.

In addition to the research and international travel opportunities, students are also required to complete an internship before graduation. The school assists them in locating positions that they're interested in, including hospitals, biotech labs, veterinarian offices, and more. Oftentimes, students are able to secure jobs at the site of their internships.

"My WPU education has exceptionally prepared me for a smooth transition from school to work by providing me with the skills necessary to succeed. At my first internship at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, I honed my marketing and teaching skills by developing useful strategies with a team, while also developing my communication skills with others to create solutions on a daily basis," said Joyner. "I feel that the experience I gained was truly invaluable as it has prepared me for my successful career thus far in clinical research, animal behavior and owning a small business right here in Raleigh."

Joyner credits the holistic approach of the program — giving her training in math, chemistry, biology and more — as well as the talented professors who she says still challenge her to this day.

Through this unique approach to learning and research experiences, WPU students like Joyner are better prepared for their careers ahead.

"Because our students are engaged in these immersive experiences, it's gotten them jobs, because they have skills that somebody else didn't have. In addition, they have gone on to graduate school and healthcare programs in medicine, physical therapy, physician assistants and dental programs, as well as veterinary medicine and more," said Bonner.

"When any student is moving on, especially when they're trying to get into professional programs and graduate programs, everybody that's applying for those is a smart kid, with great grades,” she continued. “But what will set you apart and give you that competitive edge is going to be things like undergraduate research, our internship programs, our teaching assistantships, our international studies programs — all of those things give our students that competitive edge to get into those programs, and then be successful and thrive in those programs because they're ready and prepared with the skills they need."