"Collaborative Research with Students"
Tuesday, October 4
Mary Trull, English; Charles Umbanhowar, Biology and Environmental Studies; students
(co-sponsors: Faculty Development Committee, Magnus the Good Endowed Fund)
In today's academy, faculty increasingly do research with students. The natural sciences have traditionally led the way in this type of research, but it is becoming more common across all disciplines. Highlighting the work of Charles Umbanhowar in biology and Mary Trull in English, this session will look at some different ways of working with students. Charles's students have worked with him both to collect data (on the ecology of fire and the eco-system history of lakes) and to write articles together. Mary Trull and a student read common texts at the Newberry Library in Chicago, discussed them together, but then each is writing an individually authored article. Charles has also served as director of St. Olaf's summer research program in the sciences and mathematics, and may have some insights from that experience. Considering different ways of collaborating with students will hopefully spark new ideas for future faculty/student research.
