Classroom visit on summer research

[Sean Nash]

On Friday, the 20th of March, we will have three visitors from MWSU to do a quick talk about research projects they have coming up, or are currently engaged in.

All three professors (Dr. Koy, Dr. Mills & Dr. Hartman) are looking for 1-3 students to participate in this summer's research. Dr. Koy's project will be in soil description in the loess hills, Dr. Hartman's research will be in describing vegetation, seedbank, and soil correlations also in the loess hills, and Dr. Mills' research is in turtle demographics and movement on MWSU property ponds.

In anticipation of this visit, use the space below to make some guesses (inferences) about what sort of work these projects might involve. What are some of the variables possible for study? What are keywords you might use just from the very brief introductions I have provided here? What are interesting aspects of these general topics? What do you, personally, find most interesting about each research thread mentioned here? What questions might you have?

[Korby Trautman]

I am pumped for Friday!!! i know these projects will include A LOT more variables, tests, and more in-depth procedures to follow. I want to here what all of them have to say, but I am excited most of all to listen to Dr. Mills. I want to be a biologist/zoologist when I get older, and that's why i am most likely going to volunteer for Dr. Mills group. And out of the three projects being "offered" to work upon, this one would prepare me the most for the world ahead of me. Now, Dr. Koy's project sounds amazing because the Loess hills is a very rare geographic location, and who knew that we live there!!! It would be extremely fun to go take samples of different places in the Loess hills region, and it probably will lead up to determining the origin of the soil. Dr. Hartman's research will be very interesting to, because it also has to do with the Loess Hills, yet it has to do with vegetation and life as well. I really hope i can get on one of these projects, because it will prepare me greatly for my future in the science field.

[kristen sheehan]

Firstly I would just like to say, sign me up! This sounds so cool! I would love to do the turtle one! Any of them would be cool, but I think that I would like the turtle one the most! :-)

Some of the variables possible for study with Dr. Koy's would be the organisms that live in the soil or the different types of clay or silt that are in the soil. For Dr. Hartman's research, the variables could be the animals that eat the vegetation, the soil or the things that live on the soil. And for Dr. Mills, the turtles (DUH!) :-) ha ha, but the types of turtles, the water pH, and maybe even the temperature of the water.

I am interested in finding out what this research will be used for, and how we will test things, I mean what kind of tools will we be using?

[kristen sheehan]

I will just say that their visit was great! I still think that I am going to try to do the turtle project, but Dr. Koy's research project would definitely be my next pick!

I was very interested in their presentations! They were very informative!

I'm excited to apply!

[Rachel Huntsman]

I'm really excited to see what type of things these projects will in tell, because I'm honestly not sure what the possibilities could be. There are so many things that could be done with soil description. I think Dr. Hartman's research could be extensive as well, because he could examine how various types of vegetation and seeds grow in this area, or what grows the best. I think Dr. Mills' research sounds the most interesting because turtles just sound more exciting to me than plants and soil. :) The research about turtles could pertain to their living habits and migration habits or something like that.

I'm not really sure what these projects could deal with completely, but they all seem to have their interesting points. I'm interested to see what what these three professors have to say about their various fields of study.

[Ryne Relford]

I found it very interesting that we live in one of the very few areas with loess hills. Dr. Koy's project will probably investigate the different characteristics of the unique soil in our area. Some of the areas that could be studied for this could be how this soil helps our environment or is the soil more difficult to deal with. One thing that I find most interesting about this topic is that studying loess hills would be unique because it is very rare in this world.

Dr. Hartman's research would also be interesting because finding what would grow effectively in the loess hills is very important, because understanding your soil is key in vegetation. It would be fun to really study the soil like this because once again not very many people even know that we live in a unique area.

Dr. Mill's research on turtle demographics on MWSU property ponds would also be fun. I imagine this study would deal with how the turtles adjust to the environment and use it in the best way for them. It would be fun to figure out exactly why the turtles make this area their home and what causes them to move when they do move. This study could study the foods that are available to the turtles in this area that aren't available to them in other areas.

All of these topics sound fun, but I would probably stick with Dr. Hartman's because it would be fascinating to actually do research on our unique area and how it interacts with our vegetation, seed bank and correlations. Not very many people have the chance to do this because loess hills are very unique and that would be one reason I would want to study it. I think Friday is going to interesting to listen to all of the studies and what they are truly going to be researching.

[Abby Lucas]

Wow! I thought everybody's big hills of sediments remained standing after being cut in half! I suppose I've never given a second thought to it, though. I wonder why no one in our class really knew of this...? Although it's not something that is taught vigorously to students, it still seems like it should be more of a commonly known fact in our area. Very interesting to find this out, mainly due to the rarity of it.

Come Friday, the speakers will be in class explaining their experiments and answering questions. These experiments all seem quite interesting, but I'm not so sure about actually doing them myself. It would be a great experience to observe and apply whatever methods these professors perform. But I'm not one to jump right into something. I need to hear what these programs will be like before I say that I'm going to participate.

Dr. Koy's project is interesting because it is what makes up the soil of the loess hills. After just learning that we are surrounded by them, it would be a good idea to further one's knowledge on the makeup of these hills.

Dr. Mills' research in turtle demographics seems to be pretty popular among my fellow classmates. Any curious person is going to find animals particularly interesting. (But I wonder how (or if) they catch them...)

Dr. Hartman's research is the vaguest. Not much is explained up there. ^^^^ But what is explained is very general, so there are many questions to be answered.

[Matt Brown]

I think all three of these different research projects sound very interesting, but I would have to say Dr. Mills' projects sounds the most interesting, to me. I don't understand how they can study turtle demographics with the MWSU ponds when they don't represent a natural habitat. I guess what i'm asking how they are going to compare to a group of turtles that live wild and go about their business in the natural place in the (sea, ocean, pond, etc.) Overall, it all sounds like a lot of fun, and could be very interesting.

[Erin McAndrews]

I honestly have no idea what they are going to do for their research projects. Maybe in Dr. Mills', the only thing I could think of it involving would be the temperature. I'm really curious about how Dr. Mills is going to go about doing their research. I think it's cool that that research is going to take place on MWSU's property.

Dr. Koy's and Dr. Hartman's research will be interesting because they will be doing research in the loess hills, which is something that I didn't even realize existed. I think that's pretty sad that I didn't know about it because I'm around them everyday!

[Kaylee Burris]

These projects seem like a lot of fun and are going to be great opportunities. The project looking at the loess hills would be very interesting because it's here in this area. I didn't know that loess hill were anything special and it's great to now know about it. With this project they can look at the different componets of the soil and see why it acts the way it does. The project that is looking at the vegetation will find out a lot of different things. They can look for how animals and other plants work together in that area. The third project sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm guessing a lot of people think that because it deals with animals and people always like to work with living things (at least I would). This project they could find out about the water that the turtles are living in and what they eat and how they effect the area around them.
All of these projects look very interesting and I wish I was more interested in science because these are great oppertunites. It will be interesting to learn and understand what these professors have to offer because one day we could have them and this could help us in the long run.
I'm looking forward to asking them some questions.

[Samantha Wilson]

Dr. Koy will be researching what minerals are in the soil and may be comparing compression between the soil in the loess hills and other places.
Dr. Hartman will be doing what can grow in the loess hills, and i really want to know b/c i haven't ever really thought about it. It would be really cool to do research with this Professor.

My all time favorite, and first pick for research, is Dr. Mills. I love love love turtles and i would really like to be involved with hers. I want to know how the turtles decide what lake/pond to live in, and what is the reason being.

[Lacie Thompson]

I am absolutely thrilled about this visit. I enjoyed myself a lot last year doing the research program and I would definitely like to find out more about these topics. I could definitely see the group of students going and digging at the different sites and seeing how the different layers affect the environment and what lies in them. I would start looking up the basic term soil and begin reading articles about that and then whatever leads to that. I guess you could say a counter effect. I want to know how will this help people around the community and what this information could prove.

[Tori Scott]

Im a little confused about there work. I missed class so i guess that doesn't help but i am excited to listen to them when they come to talk. I also think getting a chance to research along side one of them would be like the chance of a lifetime. Im not sure what the two first researchers work is all about but it sounds like the last, Dr. Mills, would be studying the population and aspects of turtels. That would be fun...as long as there not snapping turtles :)