Close Encounters, Part Five Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh , a professor of botany , is another believer in the benefits of undergraduate research.
Research can excite people.
Yet there is a flip side to having undergrads working in the lab, she points out. With pressure on faculty to publish, often there isn't much time to bring new students to a higher level. Photo by Mary Levin. When Van Volkenburgh first heard McCormick's directive for undergraduate research, she wondered what kind of impact it would have on programs like hers. I sometimes feel I don't spend enough time with undergraduates as it is, and when they are involved in research, they sometimes need hand-holding or explicit direction.