Asian shore crabs, wild oysters, dog nutrition, and baseball statistics are just a few of the topics for research projects being conducted by students at Monmouth University this summer. The School of Science Summer Research Program (SRP) has been under way for the past 12 weeks. Now in its seventh year, the SRP enables students to work on collaborative research projects under the supervision of School of Science faculty in a range of disciplines including biology, chemistry, computer science and software engineering, mathematics, and marine science.
The SRP Symposium will be held August 13, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., in Erlanger Gardens on the Monmouth University campus. At the symposium, students will present their research in poster format. Members of the public are welcome to attend the symposium.
“We are delighted to have these exceptional students on campus this summer to work with our faculty on original research. The Summer Research Program provides students with experiential learning through cutting-edge, hands-on research projects in wet laboratories, computer laboratories and field research environments,” said Interim School of Science Dean John Tiedemann.
Ninety-six participants, including students from Monmouth University, the University of Delaware, Flagler College, Northeastern University, Rutgers University, The College of Wooster and the University of Illinois, were selected from 258 applicants from across the U.S.
The program also involves students from area high schools, including: Biotechnology High School, Colts Neck High School, East Brunswick High School, Freehold Borough High School, High Technology High School, John P. Stevens High School, Middletown High School South, Manalapan High School, Pingry School, Princeton High School, Point Pleasant Borough High School, South Brunswick High School, St. Rose High School, Walter Johnson High School, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North.
Corporate sponsors of the 2015 SRP include Brinkerhoff Environmental Services Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Defined Logic, Global Essence, Inc., Independent College Fund of NJ, Johnson & Johnson, MUSE (Merck Undergraduate Science Endeavors), Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Sparta Systems, and Workwave. Other support has been provided by the University’s Urban Coast Institute through its Challenge Grant and the Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholarship Fund, as well as from contributions from School of Science faculty and staff, alumni and friends of the School.
Sample research projects include:
- Is the Invasive Asian Shore Crab Expanding into Upper Barnegat Bay?
- Characteristics of Eastern Oyster Populations in the Upper East River
- Analysis of Diabetic Ketosis and Nutrition in Dogs
- Baseball’s Accurate Statistical Engine Simulator
- Flood Elevation Monitoring in Northeast Monmouth County
- Cloning, Expression and Purification of T7 RNA Polymerase