Research Experience for Community College Students in Critical Zone Science

Week 1 – June 6^th, 2016

This has been an incredibly eventful and memorable week for me. I moved from my parent’s home in Castle Rock to the Bear Creek Apartments in Boulder on Sunday and have spent the week getting to know the RECCS staff, scientists, RECCS alumni, and fellow student researchers. I confess that at the beginning of this week I was experiencing mixed feelings; I was oscillating between nervousness and excitement. I had no idea what to expect! This is my first time ever conducting a formal research project, let alone working at an internship. The only experience I have is from that of science and lab courses I’ve taken in college. I’ve been determined to gain experience in science and this seemed like a perfect opportunity for me to do so. I won’t lie, at some points within the week, I definitely found myself asking, “What have I gotten myself into?”

The introductory week consisted of an overview of the program, getting to know everyone, hearing from RECCS alumni, and learning useful practices that are relevant for a research project.

I learned how RECCS started and what to expect during the summer and was introduced to all of the useful communication resources that are and will be available throughout the summer.

I participated in ice breakers that allowed me to start conversing with other student researchers in a comfortable setting. I attended a trip to the Mountain Research Station in Nederland where I took part in team building activities which really helped solidify my bond with the other student researchers and staff.

I met RECCS alumni which really provided me with perspective of what it will be like to go through the summer as a RECCS intern and what opportunities can come about from having completed the program.

I met my mentor over lunch, which was essential in helping me to better understand the research project I’ll be conducting.

There were several speakers and scientists that provided me with useful skills and perspective as to what it’s like to work as a research scientist. I learned what’s important to photograph throughout my project, and how to take a useful photo. Science process training helped me to understand how to think like a scientist and to formulate a question from categorical and continuous variables, how to collect data and visually represent it, and then how to report it succinctly. I was made aware of the possibilities of harassment and what I can do to ensure a professional environment for myself and others. A communication workshop, along with a grad student’s presentation, helped me to see what an effective science talk and poster looks like. I was part of a field course which helped me to understand what’s important to document in a field and lab notebook. Lastly, I hiked around with an ecologist and was given the opportunity to practice coming up with ecological research questions based off of observations I made within the environment. This was all very useful information!

Now that this week has come to an end, I can say with absolute certainty that I feel so much more confident and comfortable being a part of this internship. I had the perception that my summer research experience was going to feel a lot like completing a class over the summer. Now my perception has drastically shifted and being part of a research project feels much more real and exciting. I’m unbelievably thrilled to get started! There has been so much hype about what we’re all about to experience and I can’t even begin to imagine how great this summer is going to be for me. Before I got to RECCS, I felt like I might never break into the field of science because of how naturally competitive the field is, but now I feel like I can really do this! I know that there is a place out there for me to work as a researcher! I just know that this feeling is going to strengthen as the summer progresses. I am so incredibly grateful for this experience and it brings so much joy to me that my input and knowledge is regarded as something of value, even when I have no previous research experience. It truly means the world to me.

Scott-Wesley Bean