She also enjoyed building a closer working relationship with her Summer Science Scholar mentor, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Brian Jones. When I would work through something really difficult, I could share it with him and he would appreciate the thrill of conquering the problem. Enjoying a similar experience was Stawiski, who worked with Assistant Professor of Biology Chris Gillen. Collaborative research between students and faculty members in the Summer Science Scholars program is a reflection of Kenyon's philosophy about the teaching of science. They become more engaged in their field when they conduct research.
Research is a major part of our teaching.
The Summer Science Scholars program provides students with another opportunity to see the human side of their professors, according to Gillen. They see us go to reference manuals to look up things. That helps teach them the processes by which a researcher learns to perform a task in the lab. Once they have that, they can do anything. The Summer Science Scholars program isn't all work, though.