凯伦Marosi, EMS学生参与主任, 与参加MCREU暑期项目的学生交谈.
宾州大学公园. 作为一名本科生进行研究可能会让人望而生畏, but Sierra Wright and a group of Penn State students from across the state jumped in feet first this summer through the 本科生多校区研究体验 (MCREU).
“At first I was a little scared because I wasn’t sure I could do it,赖特说。, 他是JDB电子阿尔图纳分校即将升入二年级的学生. “但是自从今年夏天来到这里, I’ve realized a lot of the doubts I had in myself were proven not true. I’ve realized I can do a lot more than I thought, even just in eight weeks.”
MCREU项目支持联邦校区的学生, 像赖特, as they conduct research during the summer months under the guidance of two Penn State faculty members — one from their home campus and another based at the 大学公园 campus.
“The MCREU program transforms students' education by providing invaluable hands-on experience and fostering essential professional connections,艾琳·霍斯特勒说, director of student research and engagement at the Penn State College of Engineering. “These immersive experiences not only enhance students' technical skills but also forge impactful relationships across campuses and colleges, 为每个参与的人创造持久的价值.”
凯伦Marosi, director of student engagement in the College of 地球与矿物科学, said the program simultaneously serves as a transition to get students interested in research and graduate school, and a way to provide a meaningful professional experience to students who may not have had that opportunity prior to coming to 大学公园.
赖特在大学公园校区度过了整个夏天, 和Antonia hadjimmichael一起工作, 地球科学助理教授, Gabriela Gesualdo, a postdoctoral scholar in the College of 地球与矿物科学’ Department of Geosciences, 研究突发性干旱.
Flash droughts develop rapidly — potentially within just a few weeks — instead of the slow, 逐渐发作，通常与干旱有关. 这些事件, 这可能会因气候变化而加剧, 能对社区和农业产生重大影响吗, 莱特说.
“It’s very similar to a regular drought, but there is a very rapid onset,” she said. “It can happen anywhere, even places where there could have been recent floods. 然后下个月，它就完全干了. 这真的是毁灭性的. 而且很难预测.”
Flash droughts are an emerging field of study without an abundance of long-term data, 莱特说. Her job was to assist Gesualdo by collecting data and news articles from communities to provide evidence of potential flash droughts.
除了她的教师导师的支持, 莱特说 collaborating with her peers in the MCREU program helped her through the summer, 从进行研究到 制作她最后的视频和海报展示. The students presented their work during a virtual symposium in July.
“We can talk about what we are working on and share what we know,” 莱特说. “We all have different knowledge — one of us had already written a literature review. 我们中的一些人做了海报展示，但很多人没有. So we were able to come together, talk about what we are going through and share our knowledge.”
Fangxin Qian participated in the MCREU program last year as a rising third-year student transitioning from 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校 to the 大学公园 campus. Now a rising senior in chemical engineering, she participated again this year.
Qian said the program helped ease her transition to the 大学公园 campus, introducing her to other students and ultimately the research group of Seong Kim, distinguished professor of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering.
“它帮助我认识了我的研究小组，”钱说. “They are very patient about explaining details and very supportive. 它使我的研究经历轻松了许多.”
今年夏天, Qian helped a visiting professor set up a semiconducting gas sensor as part of her MCREU project.
“我从来没有在实验室里安装过设备，”她说. “Normally everything is set up already and all I need to know is how to use the equipment. But I was able to learn how each piece of software works with each part of the equipment. 这是一次很棒的经历.”
约瑟夫•沃尔夫, 学习能源工程的大四学生, 今年夏天也第二次参加了MCREU. He previously attended as a rising second-year student at Penn State 纽约.
他说了他在石菲菲实验室工作的经历, assistant professor of energy engineering in the College of 地球与矿物科学’ John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, 改变了他对自己职业生涯的设想.
“The impact has completely changed the trajectory of what I was planning to do,” Wolf said. “我根本没有考虑过做研究. 我打算拿到一个四年的学位，然后去工业界工作. But I realized I really like doing research and I want to continue doing it as a career.”
Wolf spent the summer working on a project to extract lithium from geothermal brine, potentially creating a more sustainable method for extracting an important resource from a readily available waste stream.
反思他所学到的一切, 沃尔夫鼓励其他学生寻求本科研究.
“You never know what you might be interested in until you try it,” he said. “特别是如果这是你第一次做研究. And if you are nervous, having the support you get through the program calms a lot of the nerves.”
