FRESHMAN SEMINARS, LEARNING COMMUNITIES, AND INTER-CAMPUS COLLABORATIONS. IDEAS, GOALS, AND JUSTIFICATIONS FOR EARLY CAREER RESEARCH

SUNY-Geneseo and SUNY-Buffalo State successfully involve early career students in research. SUNY-Geneseo uses a geology-focused seminar for 1st year majors and transfers, whereas a learning community model for students interested in any science major and summer research for 1st and 2nd year students is used at Buffalo State. These programs grow out of a desire to decrease attrition rates from the sciences by nurturing young scientists. This nurturing entails creating a cohort of peers and providing them tools that are both useful academically and scientifically. The SUNY-Geneseo program has an additional goal of introducing geology majors to the faculty and research equipment available to them. An additional goal for the Buffalo State science learning community is to help increase the number of minority students who choose and persist in a science-oriented major.

Topics pursued by the early career researchers at SUNY-Geneseo and Buffalo State vary and include a study of rock strength and erosion rates at Niagara Falls, migration of lead from old campus rooftops, wave erosion and the fate of Montauk lighthouse, and a study of a smelting site along the Buffalo River. The Buffalo State projects are more general than the Geneseo projects because they are not aimed only at declared geology majors. Regardless of the research question pursued, it is clear from both programs that the early career research experience nurtures camaraderie amongst student researchers and readies them for future research. Surprisingly it also offers the potential for new connections amongst faculty and senior researchers. These new or renewed faculty interactions take place on campus and between universities. This poster will introduce the programs at SUNY-Geneseo and SUNY-Buffalo State. It will also present examples of research pursued by early career students and suggest strategies for institutions interested in creating a 1st and 2nd year research program.