School’s Out but Research Continues
As part of an ongoing effort to support students’ post-graduate success, Principia College is providing room and board on campus this summer for 13 current students and recent graduates who are working alongside professors on a wide range of research projects. Students applying to graduate school with this type of hands-on research experience really stand out from the crowd!
Another bonus to this program will be the close-knit learning community fostered among the students as they share their experiences both formally and informally. Early on, students will give a panel presentation about their projects to Summer Session adult learners. Then, in the fall, they’ll present their findings to the larger campus community. Students will also have opportunities to interact with experts in institutions related to their research—an invaluable opportunity to develop professional contacts.
In all, five professors—representing the Biology and Natural Resources, Theatre and Dance, and Political Science Departments—and 13 students are conducting research on the following topics:
- Evolutionary trends in the breeding systems of several ecologically dominant grass species; a subproject of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to include interaction with research scientists at the Danforth Plant Science Center at Washington University in St. Louis
- The home range of timber rattlesnakes at the College and their use of the campus as a foraging habitat (in conjunction with the curator of St. Louis Zoo's reptile house and a zoo veterinarian)
- The relationship between disturbance history and forest composition
- An analysis of U.S. presidential public addresses since 1945 in relation to partisan approaches to leadership
- An exploration of strategies for creating one’s own opportunities for work in the field of theatre