What kinds of projects can I do?

Directed research, Independent Study and Honors Thesis research requirements will vary by project type, scope, and the number of credit hours enrolled. Minimally you will be turning in seven assignments and have an exit interview. There are three types of undergraduate research studies:

Review Studies – You must synthesize and critique the state of knowledge for a particular question. That is, you must 1) define your question and establish relevance, 2) summarize the main points of all work that directly addresses your question, and 3) critically evaluate our current knowledge. The last bit is the hardest. Try finding out what the major works are assuming. Are the assumptions justified? Would they work in all cases? Would you always expect published observations to work out as reported? Could there be exceptions? Is there evidence from other disciplines that might help us figure out the question? What do we still not know about this topic?

Project Studies – Here you conduct a project designed with the help of your mentor that forces you to acquire a skill that you wish to learn. You do a bit of review (as above), but you mainly focus on becoming proficient in mastering laboratory or field procedures, as well as the statistics required to assess the results properly. A short literature review will accompany this type of project. The end result is written up like a scientific paper. This probably entails the most work for the professor, and as such I am less likely to have you choose this option.

Experimental Studies – This project is designed around the idea that you may already have some data you wish to analyse, or you want to conduct a small-scale version of your thesis in order to test out its feasibility. The results would be written as a scientific paper. The difference between this and the Project type is that the Experimental could result in anything, whereas the Project type results are more certain.


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Examples of Projects, and their Results

Review Studies – a journalism major with a biology minor wishes to eventually become a science writer; she reviews the effectiveness of taking dietary supplements and writes a thorough 12 pg. review of what we do and do not know about mineral supplements.

Project Studies – a pre-med student wishes to become a surgeon; addresses homologous anatomical structures btw vertebrates by skeletonizing and then reconstructing fish, lizard, and mouse skulls. She then writes a 5 pg. review of adaptations for feeding in these lineages, adds this to a 4 pg description of these adaptations in the species examined, complete with photos of her specimens.

Experimental Studies – a bio major wants to get into a good ethology grad school program and has a semester abroad plan of study that includes bird watching in Paris; the student compares bird behavior at feeders surrounded by different degrees of human activity. He does a very brief review, collects data, calculates statistical trends, conducts a power analysis, and then writes a short scientific paper.


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The amphibians and reptiles of Minnesota are important indicators of water quality and ecosystem integrity.



Angie Magnusson works in the field developing regional biodiversity indices in collaboration with Jeff Jeremiason of the Dept. of Chemistry.



Even backyard streams can be the source of many projects at the intersections of ecology, chemistry, entomology, geology and other sciences.



Rochelle Molitor gains molecular biology experience that can be applied to conservation, medicine and forensics.