School of Science Learning Opportunities

Many classes incorporate archaeological site tours into their syllabi to give you a first-hand look at the archeological record and significance of important historic sites throughout the area and region.

MSUM’s Archaeology Lab has been involved in cultural resource management projects (such as surveys and excavations) since the 1970s and provides opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience assisting with building a cultural sequence for the region. The Lab has been involved in small- and large-scale projects in North Dakota and Minnesota involving federal agencies, such as the Corps of Engineers; state agencies, such as the Minnesota Department of Transportation; and municipal levels, such as the city of Moorhead.

As part of your Physics degree, you’ll complete a senior project involving experimental and/or theoretical research on a physics topic, which will include extensive library research, a detailed written report and an oral presentation. Recent senior projects include:

• Tracking the Changes in Epistemological Beliefs in General Physics Students
• Imaging of Collagen-I Binding with MMP-I Using Atomic Force Microscopy
• Electromagnetic Coil Gun
• The Study of the Magnus Effect
• Modeling and Testing a Seismic Accelerator
• Maximum Muscle Work for Increasing Load and Stance

Plus many more fascinating topics!

The Center for Geospatial Studies is one of three faculty-driven interdisciplinary centers selected for development at MSUM. The Center is committed to showcasing GIS in inspiring events, engaging learners, helping others use and build GIS infrastructure and establishing dynamic collaborations. It seeks to educate people to think spatially; train them to perform technically using geospatial technologies; and customize and serve data and conduct spatial analyses to inform regional decision-making.

You have the opportunity to help run outreach activities for the public and K-12 students. Whether helping present sound and light activities to elementary students, circuits with middle school students or robotics with high school students, you will gain skills communicating to others about science. You can also help with a variety of events like Science Olympiad, Science Fair and Expanding Your Horizons. In addition, the Society of Physics Students develops and performs a yearly physics demonstration show for the public.

MSUM’s  Society of Physics Students (SPS) is consistently honored and recognized as a Distinguished Chapter from SPS National. This active student organization enjoys a seven-year streak for national awards won by physics students. The group is committed to physics-related outreach in the form of physics demonstrations designed to educate and entertain students and the general public, specifically the annual Halloween show and the SPS Demo Show. They also provide a supportive peer network; facilitate tours and field trips; sponsor guest speakers; and arrange and fund conference participation.
SPS MSUM

Research experience provides you the opportunity to not just learn science, but to be a scientist – from collecting data, to presenting research results at regional and national meetings to publishing in peer-reviewed academic journals.

Why research?

• Research experience provides a strong, positive impact on applications for professional schools (medical school, physical therapy school, etc.), applications for advanced research at graduate programs, scholarships and general marketability for science jobs. Faculty mentors are able to write informed and enthusiastic letters of recommendation if you have conducted research in their lab.
• You can attend regional and national conferences as a participant or poster presenter – it’s the best way to network with future colleagues and graduate school mentors.
• Research in a variety of areas such as: human-environment interactions, ethnomusicology, ceramic analysis, science education, medical anthropology, geographic information systems, biochemistry, analytical, physical, organic, and inorganic or education.

Current research opportunities

In addition to field experiences with geology of the region, as an Earth Science Education major you’ll also have opportunities for classroom field experiences, where you’ll spend time observing, assisting and teaching in local classrooms prior to your final semester of student teaching. As you’re immersed in classrooms of different grade levels and with varying teaching styles, you will be able to identify what type of classroom is the right fit for you.

You’ll spend time observing, assisting and teaching in local classrooms for more than 100 hours prior to your student teaching experience, so you’ll be exceptionally prepared to lead your own classroom. Geology and other earth science fieldwork is also a critical component of the major. You may participate in multiple formal field experiences, including one-day and multi-day field trips to see regional geology, such as geology in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a tour of the world's largest Layered Intrusive Igneous Complex in Duluth, a tour of mining districts in northeast Minnesota, a tour of caves and geological parks in southern Minnesota, and elective multi-week field experiences in South Dakota and Wyoming. Other optional experiences include field work as part of research projects carried out with faculty.

A field school is a short-term program that gives you practical training of applying what you learned in the classroom into actual field work. These are typically intensive experiences that build strong relationships among peers and faculty mentors. Field school opportunities vary depending on current research interests of faculty or archaeological contracts. Recent field schools include Prairie and Woodland Native Nations, where students visited, researched and interacted with tribal administrators, members and elders from the Sauk Nation of Kansas and Nebraska, the Iowa Nation of Kansas and Nebraska, and the Meskwaki Nation of Iowa; and Meskwaki Ethnohistory Research Group to the Meskwaki Indian Settlement in East Central Iowa for cultural and linguistic presentations.

While internships aren’t a requirement of all MSUM's School of Science degrees, they’re a great way to gain hands-on experience in your specific area of interest. You can earn up to 12 credits for your internship. Internship opportunities include local employers in health care, resource management and research including Sanford Health, Appareo, Micron and John Deere, among others.

The Biosciences Department offers you the opportunity to be a Learning Assistant for courses you have already taken. It’s a competitive selection process and a privilege that not only deepens your topic knowledge but provides valuable teaching experience.

Faculty and students alike not only attend local, regional and national conferences, they also participate by presenting their research. All of our students present at MSUM’s Student Academic Conference. Other recent opportunities where students have attended and presented include:

• American Astronomical Society (AAS)
• American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)
• Minnesota Conference on Science Education
• American Association of Variable Star Observers
• Gordon Research Conferences
• Great Lakes Planetarium Association

You will have the opportunity to present research and/or attend professional conferences at the local, regional and national level. Every year, many students present at MSUM’s Student Academic Conference. Other opportunities may include the American Association of Geographers, Geological Society of America, the Society for American Archaeology, the Plains Anthropological Society, the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium, the North Dakota Association for Women Geoscientists, the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference or the Council for Minnesota Archaeology among others.

The MSUM Regional Science Center’s 300-acre Buffalo River Site is located 15 miles from campus and is part of a 5,000-acre tallgrass prairie that includes the Buffalo River with riparian woods and several wetlands. The Center also includes a museum and an observatory used by the Physics and Astronomy Department. The site is used as a tallgrass prairie field station that is used for research studies, laboratory field trips for several courses, and public education. Learn more about the Regional Science Center.

The School of Science has dedicated labs for student teaching that are associated with courses such as human anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, genetics, botany, wildlife ecology, microbiology, cell culture, ethnohistorical research, geospatial ethnography, kinship studies, language studies, and more. In addition, faculty members have their own labs where they conduct research and mentor students. Areas of current research:

• Genes responsible for photosynthesis in corn
• Soil microbiome and landscape genetics
• Yeast fermentation, endocrine disruptors
• Population biology
• Embryonic development of mammalian brains using the mouse model
• Emotional impact of cadaver dissection, endocrine disruptors
• Science of pedagogy, prairie nutrient network ecology
• Behavioral ecology of fish
• Immunobiology, cell culture and fungal pathogens of mammal lungs using the mouse model
• Geospatial modeling, bird ecology, epidemiology
• Aquaponics, plant cell wall
• Ethnohistorical research
• Geospatial ethnography
• Kinship studies
• Siouan, Algonquian, and Caddoan language studies

You will have the opportunity to learn and research in a variety of sophisticated labs that boast essential tools and faculty expertise that will teach you how to be a scientist. Our facilities include:

• Extensive aquatic research laboratory facility
• Repositories of reference materials in a regional herbarium
• Modern greenhouse and growth chambers
• State-of-the-art research labs for anatomy, physiology, ecology, genetics, neurobiology, microbiology, biochemistry and biotechnology
• Ethnography lab

Research Opportunities Classroom & Research Labs

If you want to live in an educational environment surrounded by others with the same passion for sciences, the STEM or Science & Health learning communities are for you. You’ll get to participate in hands-on labs with fellow students while preparing for a STEM, science or health-related career.

MSUM’s annual Andrew Conteh Student Academic Conference showcases student research on a variety of topics and encourages student growth and development. It’s a component in the important work of transforming students’ lives.

Student organizations are just one way to create your place at MSUM. With 80+ organizations to choose from, you can connect with students in your major, with the same hobbies, or who have a love of coffee as much as you do. Not finding an organization that fits you? It’s easy to round up your fellow Dragons to launch a new club.

• The Chemistry and Biochemistry Club (CBC) promotes chemistry to the university and surrounding community by participating in outreach activities to teach chemistry principles and generate an interest in science among students, teachers and the community. The Chemistry Department’s close, collegial atmosphere extends to the CBC, which fosters friendships, develops leadership skills, promotes volunteerism and encourages professional development.
  
  
• The Dragon Anthropological Association is an organization for students interested in anthropology or other cultures, past and present. Find the Dragon Anthropological Association.
  
  
• The Geo Club provides an informal forum for students and others interested in Earth sciences to promote their interaction and to expand their opportunities for extracurricular learning.
  
  
• Pre-Health Professionals Club provides students with opportunities to expand their knowledge about the healthcare professions.
  
  
• Sigma Pi Sigma is MSUM’s physics honors society, which usually holds an annual induction ceremony in the spring for physics honors. (Sigma Pi Sigma chapter number 306 was originally chartered as the Tri-College University Chapter on April 30, 1973).
  
  
• Tri-Beta is an honorary and professional society for students in the biological sciences that is dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending the boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research.
  
  
• The local student chapter of the Wildlife Society aims to encourage student research in the wildlife profession and cultivate interest in wildlife.
  
  

The Biosciences Seminar Series is a bi-weekly speaker series focusing on a wide array of topics, from sharing research progress to preparing for graduate school or internships. They are free and open to the public.

FREE (Friday Research Exploration and Education) is a student research series that features students explaining their proposed, ongoing or completed research.

We offer opportunities to study science in the field through unique educational trips at home and abroad. Opportunities that have been offered on a regular basis:

• Conservation of Tropical Biodiversity (BIOL 335) is a 12-day trip to Costa Rica to study strategies for balancing conservation of biological diversity with politico-economic forces.
• Biological diversity, bio-physical and sociocultural aspects of the Pacific Northwest (BIOL 308) ecosystem includes a field trip to the temperate rainforest of Washington state.
• Health, Education, and Environment in Tanzania Today to explore the challenges of healthcare and education in this diverse and rapidly developing nation.
• MSUM also recently partnered with Metro College Alliance to discover the archaeology of Neolithic Greece while working at the ancient acropolis of Halai as part of the Cornell Halai and East Lokris Project (CHELP).

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Fellowships are funded fellowships The National Science Foundation REU supporting active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation.