OURA Lab motivates potential researchers, provides essential experience

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Jenniffer Riley at the OURA Lab Showcase
Jenniffer Riley, program coordinator for the OURA Lab, gives opening remarks at the OURA Lab Showcase April 23. Riley shared how she encouraged students in this year’s lab to embrace creativity in their experiments and in their presentation methods.
Students introducing themselves at the OURA Lab Showcase
Students of the OURA Lab introduce themselves to initiate the gallery walk portion of the Showcase. Students were given the option to utilize a projector and slides for their presentation or to develop a 3D representation of their experiment and findings.
Projects at the OURA Lab Showcase
OURA Lab students were given freedom to express their research creatively, and projects at the showcase included slide decks, a diorama box, short books, posters, a Play-Doh demonstration, a board game and more.
Anaya Alameida's project at the OURA Lab Showcase
Second-year animal sciences student Anaya Alameida walks two other students through “Worm Bash,” the board game she created to showcase her experiment’s findings in an interactive format. Alameida kept groups of worms for her experiment and observed their populations in changing environments. The flags on the board represented the four weeks of testing, and since Alameida could not determine any correlations between environmental changes and worm populations, each player rolled dice to decide how their worm population would grow (move forward on the board), decline (move backward), or remain steady.
Elena Tran's project at the OURA Lab Showcase
Elena Tran, a fourth-year biological science student, shows the color-changing process of her model adhesive bandage. Tran demonstrated the possibility of infection-detecting bandages by incorporating liquified red cabbage, which changes color when it contacts ammonia produced by bacteria, into a bandage. Therefore, when infection-causing bacteria are present, the bandage begins to show a purple color.
Peter Jesik's project at the OURA Lab Showcase
Peter Jesik, a second-year forest and rangeland stewardship student, points to an image showing hyphal growth of the fungi they used in their project to degrade plastic. Their experiment, Bioremediation Using Fungi, explored the ability of P. microspora to degrade plastic particles found polluting the ground surrounding trash bins on campus.
Mali Gomez's project at the OURA Lab Showcase
Mali Gomez, a second-year student studying biomedical sciences, presents her findings regarding the level of microplastics in bottled beverages, specifically bottled water. Gomez found that twisting a plastic water bottle’s cap deposits microplastics into the water, and the majority of those microplastics were not digestible by a mock gastric acid (simulating the acid used in human digestion).
Andie Hall's project at the OURA Lab Showcase
Andie Hall, a second-year ecosystem science and sustainability student, reads the children’s book she wrote about her experiment. Titled, “The Little Bacteria That Couldn’t,” the book follows a specific type of bacteria in its quest to breakdown food waste in a controlled environment. Though the bacterium were unsuccessful on their own, results showed that adding other decomposers, like mold and beetles, aided the effort.
Olga Achmatowicz's project at the OURA Lab Showcase
Second-year chemistry student Olga Achmatowicz explains her experiment, which investigated microplastic leachates from tea bags. Achmatowicz, an avid tea drinker, conducted the experiment after reading an article suggesting tea bags might leak microplastics into the drink. Though she found evidence of some microplastics in the tea she examined, the levels were not high enough to warrant warning labels.
Becca Ceisel's project at the OURA Lab Showcase
Becca Ceisel, a second-year studying fish, wildlife and conservation biology, investigated the behaviors of ants when presented with apples covered in various food dyes. She found that all but the control group (presented with an un-dyed apple) ignored the apple completely, even going so far as to bury it and resort to cannibalism.

Each semester, the Office for Undergraduate Research and Artistry provides opportunities for undergraduates to learn essential laboratory and research skills through first-hand experiences within the OURA Lab. The Spring 2024 cohort presented their research in the biannual OURA Lab Showcase on April 23.

Students in this semester’s cohort said they enjoyed learning from their peers, the graduate assistants, and the learning assistants in a relaxed environment. The OURA Lab uses a fail-forward methodology – the idea that any failure is simply a step toward success. Though several students found inconclusive results in their experiments, 10 from this semester’s cohort have taken steps to interview for a fall research position.

Of the Spring 2024 OURA Lab students, 18 identify as underrepresented and initially reported that they could not see themselves in research. After participating in the OURA Lab and United in STEMM, 13 of these students now report that they want to pursue a graduate degree, while the other five plan to continue to advanced degrees in the medical field and conduct research there.

Overall, more than 25% of OURA Lab alumni have been accepted to other research opportunities, including summer research experiences for undergraduates (REUs), other structured research programs at CSU (for example, Innovation Experience), and working for a staff or faculty researcher at CSU. These students frequently mentioned that their experience in the OURA Lab made them more competitive for other opportunities.

This summer, the OURA Lab is partnering with and CSU Spur to offer a summer research internship that, like all OURA Labs, is a paid opportunity that requires no previous research experience.

The OURA Lab is in the process of hiring students for the Fall 2024 cohort. For more information and to apply, follow this link: tinyurl.com/OURA-F24.

 

rbasch

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