Collaborative Research

Linfield biology faculty pursue their research with student collaborators

Students are vital to biology research programs. Many have been authors on faculty publications and have attended and presented at professional society meetings with their research mentors.

Gain research experience by following three main avenues:

• Performing an independent research project with a faculty member during the semester by taking the course, Research Methods (BIOL 220, one credit)
• Performing an advanced research project during the semester with a faculty member, culminating in a formal written report, by taking the course, Independent Research (BIOL 490, 2-5 credits)
• Working as a summer research assistant for a faculty member

Summer research opportunities

Each summer, faculty hire a number of students to work in the lab as full-time research assistants. This is a campus-wide initiative for conducting research in fields including biology, chemistry, physics, math and psychology.

As a research assistant, you are well-compensated with a generous stipend and free on-campus housing. You participate in a weekly Summer Science Symposium to present research projects to your peers and science faculty. You'll also share your research with the entire Linfield community at our annual Student Symposium.

Examples of past summer research projects:

• Identifying a novel gene required for microRNA-mediated gene silencing with Catherine Reinke
• Non-target effects of endangered species management strategies with Chadwick Tillberg
• Understanding impacts of viticultural practices on wine grape microbiomes with Jeremy Weisz
• Using in situhybridization to identify neurotransmitter receptors in the zebrafish lateral line with Cecilia Toro
• Fungal and microbial succession across a coarse woody debris chronosequence with John Syring

Examples of student presentations at national scientific meetings:

• How changes in plant community structure affect terrestrial invertebrate food webs
  Entomological Society of America – Pacific Branch Meeting, Coeur d’Alene, ID
  Faculty mentor: Chadwick Tillberg
• Foraging and nesting ecology of the giant queenless ant Dinoponera australis (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) 
  Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN
  Faculty mentor: Chadwick Tillberg
• Exploring the requirement for the CCR4-NOT deadenylase complex subunit Regena/NOT2 in microRNA-mediated gene silencing
  Annual Meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  Faculty mentor: Catherine Reinke
• Developing genetic resources in whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis)
  International Union of Forest Research Organizations Conference, Ft. Collins, CO
  Faculty mentor: John Syring
• Development of microsatellite markers for the threatened whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis)
  Evolution Conference, Snowbird, UT
  Faculty mentor: John Syring