These students listen to seminars given by their peers, usually Seniors, on research projects they have conducted in a research-designated course, independent study, or Richter study. By listening to these seminars students not only learn more about biology beyond their ongoing coursework, they develop an appreciation for the seminar presentation itself and the factors that are included in a good presentation. A sixth research course in molecular biology will be added in the 2000-01 school year. A major component of these courses is a laboratory or field investigation of a problem using the scientific method. Each student plans and executes his investigation with the consent of the faculty member.
Students report their findings to the class at the end of the term.
All biology majors take one or more of the research-designated courses or an Independent Study or a Richter Study and reports their findings in BIO 475, Seminar, for credit. We also encourage students to report their findings at seminars or meetings off campus, e.g., the ACCA Student Symposium, the Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates, or the Tri-Beta District Convention. Some of these studies have been published in refereed scientific journals. Our students work collaboratively with nearby Argonne and Fermi National Laboratories, the Morton Arboretum and the Brookfield Zoo . In addition, we are affiliated with the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory at Ocean Springs, Mississippi.