They are true partners in the research and present their work both at professional meetings and in recognized scientific publications. Students take part in all aspects of the research process, with a goal being the presentation and publication of results. Currently, we use a multidisciplinary team, including Professors Nancy Kolodny and Adele Wolfson of Wellesley's Chemistry Department, and a number of undergraduates, the latter working anywhere from one semester or summer to three years in our labs, to study the effects of environmental stresses on the growth of cyanobacteria. Working with student and faculty collaborators on research problems of common interest is rewarding, intellectually satisfying, and best of all, fun. Undergraduate researchers are, more often than not, fresher, more innovative and less inhibited as scientists than are faculty or graduate students.
Viruses infect cyanobacteria just as they infect higher organisms.
The killing of cells by the viruses may be responsible for fluctuations in cell growth in lakes and the ocean. Liz Small, now a physician in Illinois, studied the infectious cycle of a cyanovirus and published her results in a referred journal. Ting Bao, from China, worked in my lab for three years. Her work on a nitrogen storage material in cyanobacterial cells culminated in her presenting results at both national and international meetings. Ting is now a 2nd year med student at Johns Hopkins University.