University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 6, No. 1/1996 Undergraduate research ranges from cucumber beetles to Cypriot toys of 7th century B.C. The University's Undergraduate Research Program can take interested students anywhere they want to go, from interviewing the Wolof people in West Africa to an archaeological dig in Cyprus to catching spotted cucumber beetles in their own backyards. Joan Bennett, coordinator and the driving force behind the Undergraduate Research Program since its inception in 1980, estimates approximately 500 students each semester get involved with research, becoming assistants or junior members of faculty research teams and discovering how the process of research unfolds. "Participants ordinarily have done well in coursework, and they have a very strong interest in the course of discovery," Bennett says. Of the thousands who have pursued this "course of discovery," the Messenger looked at five students who, Bennett says, "have been in research long enough to know they enjoy the process." Laura Jane Swanson, Delaware '97, from St. Joseph, Mich., a biochemistry major, was introduced to undergraduate research when she was named a Science and Engineering Scholar. Under this program, which awards 50 research scholarships annually to outstanding sophomores, Swanson served a 10-week, full-time research apprenticeship during the summer before her junior year. She's now writing her senior thesis, working toward an honors degree. "I am trying to develop a method to determine the number of phosphate groups on a given protein," she says. The method she employs involves removing phosphates one by one and running remaining proteins on electrophoresis [an electrochemical process in which biological compounds in solution travel to a positive or negative field because of the charge on the substances]. Proteins can be separated into distinct components due to differences in their mobility. Her adviser, Harold White, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, says, "Laura Jane has a challenging research project that has stymied students before her." Swanson says, "It's been fantastic. Even the frustration involved-and there has been frustration- has been a real learning experience. "This is a preview of what I want to do with the rest of my life," she says, noting that she hopes to be a professor of either biochemistry or molecular biology. Her efforts already have been recognized. Last April, her presentation at the Collegiate Student Chemists convention took first-place honors in the biochemistry division. Barry Messinger, Delaware '97, an art history major from Wilmington, Del., began with a study of a donated artifact, reportedly from Cyprus-a wheel dating back to the 7th century B.C. His research has expanded into a study of the vehicles to which the wheels were fastened. Usually, attached to children's toys, they are almost always found in graves or tombs. "The topic is not something that's really been researched," Messinger says, so he must collect information from a number of different sources, many in foreign languages. His senior thesis is largely a catalog and survey of the vehicles that used the wheel. After earning his Degree with Distinction, Messinger will head to graduate school and a teaching career. But before that, he wants to delve into more archeological digs, following up on an expedition he participated in last summer. "Barry joined an expedition to Idalion, a site on Cyprus, and he'll be going there again this summer," John Crawford, professor of art history and Messinger's adviser, says. "He's off to a great start. I didn't get to participate in a dig before I was in grad school." Julie Fine, Delaware '97, from Newark, Del., is an entomology major and a Science and Engineering Scholar now in her second year in the research program. Her senior thesis involves "researching the mating behavior of spotted cucumber beetles," she says, noting that these insects are found in local cucumber and zucchini flowers and are easy to catch. Last summer, Fine had the opportunity to present her research findings thus far at the Eastern branch meeting of the Entomological Society of America, and, this winter, she will talk at the society's national meeting, where she also has entered a student competition. Her adviser, Douglas Tallamy, professor of entomology and applied ecology, says Fine "represents the very best that the undergraduate program has to offer. I would give my right arm for more students like Julie." Fine also plans to attend graduate school-to study wildlife management. Meanwhile, she continues her research, even though, sometimes, she says, "the beetles just don't cooperate." Keith Hornberger, Delaware '97, a chemistry major from Severna Park, Md., and a Science and Engineering Scholar, is currently working on his senior thesis, which involves "looking at how enzymes bind sugar phosphates." He does this by breaking down the binding energy into its components, specifically, the electrostatic and hydrobinding components. Hornberger's project from the summer of 1995, "Utility of Yeast Hexokinase," won an award and will most likely be published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry early next year. "I want to go into academia and be a professor," he says. He also will graduate with an honors degree. Hornberger's adviser, H. Keith Chenault, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, says, "Keith is the kind of undergraduate researcher that every adviser dreams of. Working with him is truly fun." Anna White, Delaware '97, of Newark, Del., traveled the farthest to gather her research data. An anthropology major, she lived in Senegal, West Africa, from January to August to research her senior thesis topic, "Gender and Attitudes Toward Family Planning, Population Growth and Development in NDiabene Toube in Senegal." White spent most of her trip observing and talking to women who came for birth control information and counseling. She also created a questionnaire to interview 70 women and men of the village about their views on the same subject. The interviews were an added challenge, considering that she used Wolof, the major language spoken in Senegal. White sometimes used an interpreter but says she eventually become fairly comfortable using the language. Her adviser, Peter Weil, associate professor of anthropology, says he's proud of how White worked so diligently to prepare herself before undertaking the research, including conquering the language barrier. "I was impressed that she did a lot of her work in Wolof," he says. Shifting from the affluence of the United States to the poverty of West Africa was difficult at first, White says, but "after three or four months, you get used to the culture and lifestyle." Weil praises White's "tremendous initiative and flexibility," adding that now she must undertake the "really hard work of analyzing her experience." Support of students while they conduct an analysis of research results is one of the good aspects of the Undergraduate Research Program, he says. Currently, White is translating her interviews and giving presentations about her experience in Senegal to other anthropology majors, the UD's Cosmopolitan Club and students in the African Studies Program. After graduating with a Degree with Distinction, she plans to take a year or two off and then head to graduate school with the support of a Truman Fellowship. Her father is Hal White, adviser to Laura Swanson. -Jennifer Bevan, Delaware '97