Student researchers get feet wet

• What: Research students will present their work.

• When: 2 p.m. Friday.

• Where: Science Building, Washington State University Vancouver, 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave.

Summer Research for Undergraduates

• What: Nine-week research program includes hands-on research with a Washington State University Vancouver faculty mentor, field trips, preparation for grad school.

• Who: Local undergraduate students who attend community college or a four-year liberal arts college where research opportunities are limited.

• Where: WSU Vancouver.

• On the Web: www.vancouver.wsu.edu/reu

CAMAS — Standing at the end of a dock, Kate Perkins and Matt Perry lowered what looked like a giant butterfly net into Lacamas Lake on Tuesday afternoon. The plankton net’s mesh squares are so fine they can capture aquatic organisms measuring about 1 millimeter.

After the students hauled the net from the water, they set it on the dock and began making measurements and taking notes. Later, inside a lab at Washington State University Vancouver, they will spend about a week analyzing the samples.

Perkins, 27, who attends WSU Vancouver, and Perry, 21, who attends the University of Portland, are among eight undergraduate students from Southwest Washington and Portland who were chosen to participate in ongoing research projects at WSU Vancouver thanks to a three-year, $260,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The nine-week summer program is part of the foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program.

The program’s goal is to make research opportunities available to highly qualified local undergraduate students who attend community college or a liberal arts college with limited opportunities to travel for summer research, said Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, an associate clinical professor of environmental science and biology at WSU Vancouver, who wrote the grant.

Field research opportunities are highly competitive and not always an option for college students, said Rollwagen-Bollens. More than 90 students applied for summer research opportunities to conduct scientific research in the Columbia River drainage basin.

She manages the program with Steve Bollens, a professor and director of the Aquatic Ecology Lab at WSU Vancouver.

In three years, the project will provide 24 undergraduate students with financial support to undertake hands-on scientific research and work with faculty members in any of 10 research areas, including aquatic invasive species and disturbance ecology at Mount St. Helens.

‘It’s a win-win’

Each student is paired with a WSU Vancouver faculty member to help with ongoing research. Perkins was paired with Rollwagen-Bollens, whose research focuses on plankton in aquatic food webs.

“It’s a win-win,” said Rollwagen-Bollens, who stood on the dock and observed the students working. “Students are getting experience in research and research faculty are getting students to do research.”

In addition to the hands-on research experience, students receive a $4,750 stipend plus commuting and meal expenses.

After spending the summer working with plankton samples from Lacamas Lake, Perkins, a biology major from La Center, is certain she wants to pursue a career in research ecology and the environment.

She has become comfortable handling various field research and lab equipment as well as filtering samples through lab equipment, analyzing statistics and interpreting data.

Although she has another year to complete at WSU Vancouver, Perkins already is considering graduate schools.

“Being involved in this research has confirmed my path,” she said. “I want to continue in research and to work around water.”