Cornell has found a way to introduce students in early biology courses to the culture of science. Each semester, students in two introductory biology courses venture off in small groups for an afternoon's work with a faculty member in the lab or the field. We'd like to develop that vision. The one-time course was costly, says Goldberg, since it required a faculty member's close supervision and plenty of lab equipment. Still, he adds, the class gave students a chance to roll up their sleeves and try molecular biology firsthand.
Students read and present research papers and attend seminars given by visiting scientists.
Afterward, the students get a chance to talk with the scientists about their research. The seminar series also soaks up time and money, so it's offered only sporadically. People flock to the seminars, she adds, to hear how biologists nationwide are unraveling basic questions of, say, evolution or human development. The Torch Is Passed Exposure to real science pays off. Just ask Sathya Ravichandran, a senior at Oregon State who did a project last summer in Hagen's lab, exploring the role of excess iron in brain cells affected by Parkinson's disease.