Katie Baker's Summer 2005 Articles
Katie is one of four ACES James Scholars who participated in the Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellowship (HURF) Program during the summer of 2005. The following articles from Cursus Honorum chronicle Katie's HURF experiences from start to finish. For more information about this exceptional research opportunity, see Chapter VI of the ACES Honors Handbook.
MAY 2005: HURF Program, Here I Come!
This summer, I will be working on campus through the HURF (Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellowship) Program. As many of you may know, this is the second year that the College of ACES has reserved four HURF positions specifically for ACES James Scholars. Luckily, I have been given a chance to participate in this program and to share my experiences with you.
My HURF faculty mentor is Dr. Darrel Kesler from the Department of Animal Sciences, and I will be doing my research in his reproductive biology lab. Our proposed research will investigate whether hCG can sustain a corpus luteum without altering the luteolytic signal. We will be using the cow as a model and hope to gain more insight on how a corpus luteum is sustained in the human. However, the HURF Program is not strictly composed of research. Some of my requirements are to participate with other HURF members in activities such as discussions and social events. In September, I will also be required to present a poster detailing my research and its results.
As far as living arrangements go, I will be living with other HURF and UMEB (Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology) participants at Illini Tower. You could probably compare it to the “learning communities” in the University dormitories, because part of the program's intention is to unite students interested in research. We will also have HURF advisors living among us, just like the University dorms.
Though I will not begin my research until the second week of June, I am very excited about being able to participate in the HURF Program. Not only will I get to spend a summer doing research on a subject that I enjoy, but I also hope to meet new people and expand my knowledge. Plus, I will be receiving a stipend and paid tuition for five hours of research credit! Now seriously, how can a summer get any better?
AUGUST 2005: The Summer of Research
It's amazing that summer is already heading into August and that the fall semester is right around the corner. I have been busy with HURF (Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellowship) all summer, and the time has flown right by! I am happy to report that my HURF experience has been, and still is, very intriguing and enjoyable. My fellow HURF counterparts are some of the nicest and most fun people I have met at the University of Illinois. It is nice to meet people with diverse backgrounds who share a common interest in scientific research. I plan on keeping in touch with many of them during my last year as an undergraduate and later on in life.
So far, this summer has basically consisted of lab/field work, HURF weekly activities and seminars, and extracurricular activities with my horses. I am now proficient in ultrasound, and I am currently learning to do progesterone assays. My research has also taken an interesting turn due to some data that my advisor and I analyzed. It may eventually evolve into an interesting research paper (more on that later!). I have learned so much more than I expected -- which is great, especially since I am still learning new things everyday.
The HURF activities and seminars have been both informative and engaging thus far. At this very moment, I am sitting on a charter bus en route to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago . We also visited beautiful Allerton Park in Monticello earlier this summer, which you must visit before you graduate. Though it may sound boring, there was even a very useful seminar on writing a scientific paper and preparing a presentation poster. Believe me; it has definitely made the scientific writing process much clearer and less burdensome! I have to give the HURF program due credit for striving to give their participants an educational and “horizon-broadening” research experience.
Soon my work in the lab will be complete for the summer, but I plan to continue with the HURF program throughout the next school year. My research will be presented at a HURF poster session in the Illini Union this September, and I will give you an overview of my research once I have finalized my presentation. Sadly, I do not look forward to this “research summer” ending so soon after it started -- research can be quite addicting, especially when you are surrounded by people who share the same passion for it as you!
October 2005: The HURF Program -- Not Just a Memory
The summer HURF Program ended in full this September with a banquet that included poster presentations of HURF research. My research detailed the use of the CIDR as a resynchronization tool in the CO-Synch+CIDR protocol in cattle. The research I presented will be expanded this fall and throughout the winter as I continue with the HURF Program. It was surreal how everything happened so quickly during the summer HURF Program, and then – BAM! – it was over in a flash. Yet I know the “quickness” of the summer was not only due to being busy with research, but also due to the amount of learning, fun, and excitement that came from participating in the HURF Program.
Seeing Body Worlds in Chicago, eating at HURF potlucks and the delicious Cheesecake Factory, visiting Allerton Park, and participating in other research activities helped uphold the program's reputation for a being an enjoyable yet broadening experience. The people were great, and the amount of expertise I gained in the area of estrus synchronization was priceless. I am only sorry I did not do this sooner in my college career, as the interest I gained in scientific research has made me want to do a lot more undergraduate research. Although I am participating in the HURF Program until graduation next May, getting involved prior to my senior year would have been exceptionally wonderful. But I am glad to have had a slice of the HURF Program rather than none at all! My summer as a HURF will never be just a memory in the back on my mind; it has instead expanded my academic interests to include research and added a new flare to my lifestyle. As I leave you with my last article detailing my summer HURF experience, I encourage you to give the HURF Program and/or undergraduate research heavy consideration. You will only learn more about yourself and the types of careers that may, or may not, be of interest to you – plus you will meet new people and have a lot of fun along the way!