Above: Mickey Yost (front), a senior clinical laboratory sciences major from Maggie Valley, and Tyler Jones, a junior chemistry major from Hendersonville, conduct research as part of WCU’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program.

Eight Western Carolina University students recently completed the university’s new Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, an eight-week total immersion research experience.

Students not only conducted laboratory research but also made formal research presentations, lived in the same community on campus, joined faculty for weekly social events and participated in activities such as career workshops and group hikes.

Mickey Yost, a senior clinical laboratory sciences major from Maggie Valley, said she learned a lot working in the lab with Jack Summers, assistant professor of inorganic biochemistry, studying compounds proposed for anti-cancer treatments (more specifically, the inhibition of superoxide dismutase). Yost went on to present their work to a private biotechnology company in Maryland, but the experiences that stood out to her and other participants were the friendships formed and interactions with faculty and fellow students.

“I feel smart and validated to be able to say they are my peers,” said Yost, who wants to pursue a doctorate in microbiology.

The WCU chemistry and physics department developed the SURF program as one way to incorporate the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan into their program. The QEP commits the university to helping students have valuable learning experiences inside and outside the classroom and then reflect on those experiences in ways that prepare them to be “true citizens for life,” said Carol Burton, assistant vice chancellor for undergraduate studies and QEP project director.

“It’s one thing to educate someone in an academic sense. It’s another to go beyond and help prepare true citizens for life,” said Burton. “The faculty who worked with the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program truly went beyond to offer our students that higher level of educational experience.”

The chemistry and physics department is one of four academic areas selected to pilot the QEP this fall, and funding from the chancellor’s and provost’s offices is supporting endeavors such as the SURF program. To make the experience financially feasible for student participants, each received a $3,500 stipend, on-campus housing and a meal plan. Faculty also received stipends.

The department modeled the SURF program on the National Institute of Science and Technology’s SURF program and the National Science Foundation’s research experience for undergraduates program. What sets SURF at WCU apart are the comprehensive assessment and reflection components designed to quantify what students have learned, and help participants reflect on the complete experience and how it relates to their plans for the future, said William Kwochka, associate professor of chemistry and the QEP coordinator for the chemistry and physics department.

The reflection component went beyond any formal activities and surfaced naturally among program participants, said Timothy Willis (pictured at left), a senior chemistry major from Maiden, who researched the “Isolation of Cytotoxic Compounds from Indigenous Plants of Western North Carolina.”

“We talked, and not just about chemistry or school, but also in-depth about the future of the country, politics, all areas of science, books, music and even religion sometimes,” said Willis, who wants to pursue a career in the field of natural products chemistry. “It was refreshing.”

For more information about the chemistry and physics department, call (828) 227-7260.

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Last Modified: Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008