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COVER
STORY
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Summer Scholars
From jazz to biomedical
studies, students chart a course of discovery
in a new university program
by
Laura Ferguson
Illustration
by Naomi Shea
Photos by Richard Howard
Ask Sara Crabb, A05, about how she usually
spends her summers and she runs down a list of practical “odd
jobs”—transcriptionist, dental office assistant,
waitress. But ask what she hopes to do after Tufts and her face
lights up. Ever since third grade, she’s wanted to be
a veterinarian.
This summer, she takes an important step closer to that aspiration
as one of 30 Summer Scholars working with faculty across the
University on inquiries as diverse as jazz, Alzheimer’s
disease and solar energy.
For Crabb, the summer research opportunity makes her hour-and-a-half
commute each day to the Grafton campus of the School of Veterinary
Medicine “certainly worth it.”
“It was great to finally get the opportunity to work in
a veterinary research environment,” said Crabb, who will
join Lisa Freeman, J86, V91, N96, associate professor, on research
related to intravenous nutrition for cats. “Usually most
of the experience we need to apply to veterinary school is unpaid,
but we have to make money for rent and food. I was worried that
I wouldn’t be able to do both.”
That students can earn tuition dollars—each receives $3,500
for full-time research—explore professions, and contribute
to scholarly and scientific knowledge are but some of the selling
points of the Summer Scholars Program. Launched this spring
by Provost Jamshed Bharucha, the program takes full advantage
of Tufts’ strength as a liberal arts institution set within
a complex research university. “I’m very excited
about the program’s prospects; it was the highlight of
my first year,” said Bharucha.
Among its many merits, he said, is a new encouragement, by way
of University funding, for students to explore areas of interest,
work that Bharucha hopes will lead to many more senior honors
theses. It strives to build connections to the intellectual
life of Tufts, perhaps enticing students to consider attending
Tufts graduate or professional schools.
And as it begins to strengthen support for scholarship across
all disciplines, it knits together schools that have traditionally
operated as “tubs on their own bottoms.” The Summer
Scholars of 2003, for instance, will work with faculty in Arts
and Sciences, Engineering, the Fletcher School, the Sackler
School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, the School of Medicine
and the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Students who might also spend all four
years on the Medford/Somerville campus are conducting research
on the Boston campus and in Tufts’ affiliated hospitals
and clinics. This year students are placed with researchers
at the Tufts-New England Medical Center and Bay State Medical
Center.
Bharucha said he was particularly pleased that the affiliated
hospitals “responded extremely well” to the program.
“For many of them, this is the first time they have been
contacted by the Tufts provost’s office, and I think this
will go a long way toward building new synergies.”
Abraham Sonenshein, professor and deputy chair in the Department
of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at the School of Medicine,
agrees. “The Summer Scholars program is a wonderful innovation
that both enriches the undergraduate experience and makes important
connections between the Medford campus and the other campuses
of the University. At the Boston campus and at the hospitals
affiliated with the medical school, we are delighted to interact
with Tufts’ excellent undergraduates and to welcome them
into our health-science research community. Katie McCarty, who
will be working in my lab this summer, will be studying the
role of a novel gene regulator in bacterial infection. Her results
may be the first step toward new therapies.”
The Summer Scholars Program grew out of the Task Force on the
Undergraduate Experience, created in 2001 by President Lawrence
S. Bacow. After more than a year of research and focus groups,
the Task Force presented proposals in May to enhance the intellectual
climate, build community and add coherence to the curriculum.
Bacow will review those recommendations, which will help give
shape to the next capital campaign.
But Task Force members also knew that some proposals called
for more immediate responses. Enhancing undergraduate research
was one of them, and Bharucha secured preliminary funding to
correct what he perceived as an imbalance in the curriculum.
“You can get an A in all your courses, but unless you
sit down and also do research, you won’t know what it’s
like to be in that field,” he said. “For students
who have thought about a Ph.D., there was very little opportunity
for them to test out their interest.”
Another incentive was the 1995 Boyer Commission on Educating
Undergraduates in the Research University. The Boyer Report
explored characteristics shared by research universities and
their challenges in relation to undergraduates. Tufts is classified
as one of 88 “Research Extensive” universities that
offer a full range of baccalaureate programs, and are committed
to graduate education through the doctorate, and give high priority
to research.
In the report’s “Blueprint for America’s Research
Universities, undergraduates were cited as “too often
shortchanged”—they graduate “lacking a coherent
body of knowledge or any inkling as to how one sort of information
might relate to others. It cast a critical eye on the concept
of a “student-centered research university,” a phrase
coined by Tufts as well as many other universities, but the
report urged that the commitment needed greater reinforcement.
“The possibility exists,” according to the report,
“that a ‘research university,’ properly defined,
could embody what the phrase [student-centered] attempts, through
a synergistic system in which faculty and students are learners
and researchers, whose interactions make for a healthy and flourishing
intellectual atmosphere.”
“The Boyer Report said we need more research opportunities
for students—because they learn more and they learn better,”
said Charles Inouye, dean of the colleges for undergraduate
education, a co-chair of the Task Force and one of the creators
of the Summer Scholars Program.
Current opportunities for student research have already proved
attractive. For five years now, undergraduates have demonstrated
their ability to engage in scholarly work at the Undergraduate
Research and Scholarship Symposium. This year 60 students presented
their findings at a poster session.
“Our faculty are generous with their commitment to students,
and allowing them to participate in research investigations
is another expression of that,” said Inouye. “It’s
a wonderful chance for students to work closely with faculty,
to understand their motivations, passions and methods, and to
engage in original research themselves. If they learn that,
then they too develop a similar profile—they too become
lifelong learners and effective communicators. They will be
well prepared for graduate school, and for the world of solving
problems and influencing others.”
When the Summer Scholars Program was announced in March, administrators
were impressed with the response—some 90 applications
for 30 openings within two weeks. Krishna Kumar, assistant professor
of chemistry, wasn’t surprised that the program was greeted
enthusiastically. “This is a one-of-a-kind program that
will really catapult undergraduate research at Tufts,”
said Kumar, who will work with Summer Scholar Ken Hamill, A04,
on a protein design project. “This multidisciplinary,
university-wide program will soon find many clones at the top
universities.”
Donna Mumme, assistant professor of psychology, was also excited
about the new program, as it endorsed what she and many faculty
already have recognized: the high caliber of undergraduates.
She first worked with Samantha Resnik, A04, when the latter
was a sophomore, and the two are teaming up in the Summer Scholars
program to investigate emotional understanding in infants. Samantha’s
research abilities—her persistence, creativity, and desire
to write a senior thesis—were easy to see, but more difficult
to cultivate due to lack of research funding.
“I’ve been pushing for a program like this since
President Bacow came,” said Mumme. “I didn’t
know it was in the works when Sam came to me with an idea for
an honors thesis, but as soon as we got the email announcement,
I sent it right off to her and told her to apply. I think it’s
going to be great working with her on such an important project
and for such an extended period of time.”
Resnik said the summer program fosters intense concentration
that’s often difficult to find during the academic year.
“Without the summer, there is no way I could study as
many infants as I need to gather relevant data; there are too
many other pressures and just not enough time. It’s an
incredible program that’s going to be invaluable to me;
I don’t think I could write a senior thesis without it.”
James Clark, A04, is grateful that the program recognizes that
the humanities play a vital part in Tufts research. Under the
mentorship of music professor Michael Ullman, he will pay tribute
to a musician he feels deserves greater appreciation, jazz pianist
Wynton Kelly, who accompanied greats like John Coltrane, Hank
Mobley and Miles Davis, among others. “Kelly’s type
of personality has been largely ignored by jazz historians,”
said Clark, who plays piano with the Tufts Big Band, “but
without him, jazz couldn’t exist, the big-name people
wouldn’t have had groups.”
For students with a leaning toward medical careers, the program
was an attractive alternative to the traditional unpaid internships.
Six undergraduates will conduct research on Tufts’ health
sciences campus.
Jennifer Cho, A04, who hopes to be a pediatrician, is studying
with Dr. Cynthia Cole in the Department of Newborn Medicine
at Tufts-New England Medical Center, exploring how oxygen therapy
can influence the outcome of premature infants. “Last
year I did an internship and it really opened my eyes to neonatal
medicine,” she said. “As far as research goes, I
know those experiences are strongly suggested for my medical
applications. I needed them to build my foundation.”
Gabriela Soriano, A04, is working with Wendy Qiu, assistant
professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
and the Tufts-New England Medical Center. Together they are
investigating the relationship between insulin, cognitive impairment
and Alzheimer’s disease. Her summer research project combines
lab work with patient contact, “so it sounded like a great
balance,” she said. “It’s satisfying when
you get to pursue something you’re passionate about over
the long term and you know that what you’re doing can
ultimately help a lot of people indirectly. You can’t
do anything if you don’t do research. You have to be more
patient, but the prospect of finding a cure for anything is
highly tempting.”
Students also responded with provocative ideas. Asami Tanimoto,
E04, a chemical engineering major with a strong interest in
the environment, was contemplating how to approach an idea that
grew out of a course she had taken with William Moomaw, professor
of international environmental policy at the Fletcher School,
on clean energy policies and technology. With her Summer Scholars
project, she will study how Tufts could integrate cost-saving
solar panels into buildings on the Medford/Somerville campus.
“I thought it was a good idea because Tufts has all these
resources and buildings with enormous roofs but they’re
not doing anything,” said Tanimoto. “The potential
for integrating solar systems really interested me. It’s
not just about saving money, but about making people more aware
of the environment.”
Similarly, Courtney Keefe, A04, jumped at the chance to research
a topic that had long been neglected. Under the guidance of
political science professor Richard Eichenberg, she will undertake
a survey of popular attitudes toward missile defense and U.S.
policy since 1983, about which, she says incredulously, very
little data exist. She said the program helps her advance her
understanding of foreign policy, but also addresses a perceived
imbalance in research.
“When I first came to Tufts,” she said, “I
knew that Tufts was a research university; that’s great,
but it had nothing to do with me. I thought it was all about
the sciences. Then this program came up. It’s exciting
because people in the humanities and social sciences can pursue
research, too.
“I think it also makes my education more complete,”
she added. “If part of your education is in the classroom
and the rest outside, there isn’t much that ties it together.
What can tie it together is being able to do research with an
expert in my field; and where the teacher doesn’t set
the agenda—you find something you want to do and do it.”
Andrew Beattie, E05, agrees there’s a sense of accomplishment
that comes with independent research. He’s working with
Peter Wong, research associate professor in mechanical engineering,
testing ultrasonic metal welding to explore what causes wrinkling
in metal plates only about 5/1000th of a millimeter thick. Research
such as this, said Beattie, lets him tackle a conundrum—“if
you vibrate a cube or a plate you will get buckling or wrinkling,
but nobody can predict why.”
“Professor Wong thinks we might be able to actually publish
our findings in a journal and that would be very exciting,”
said Beattie. “I know it’s possible that we won’t
find anything interesting, and that would be unfortunate. But
this gives me the opportunity to learn about the research process
and to find out if this is what I want to do after Tufts.”
Ken Hamill, A04, expressed his own anticipation
for discovery. He’s spending the summer working with Krishna
Kumar in the chemistry department exploring one aspect of artificial
protein design. “It’s a fascinating project,”
said Hamill. “People have identified a new type of force
implicated in protein folding, and my goal is to classify this
phenomenon and see how it influences protein-protein interactions.”
He is pleased that the University has set up the program not
only for the funding, but because it lends credibility and weight
to research. “The fact that it is supported by Tufts is
important,” he said. “Tufts recognized that the
research is credible, and that gives us the confidence as a
team to push harder to make it publishable.”
And, he adds, it brings community. Research has a tendency to
cause tunnel vision, where people view their work only within
the microcosm of a department. “You rarely see anyone
out of that box,” he said. “It’s dangerous
to sit in Pearson and not have that sense of being part of other
research and work. It’s a diversity issue; it recognizes
that there are all types of research going on here and that
English is just as important as something in the sciences. That’s
an important message.”
Indeed, in the long view, programs such as the Summer Scholars
reinforce a critical message about Tufts. “Students that
choose to come to Tufts appreciate that Tufts offers a high-quality
education,” Inouye said. “They understand that we
are neither Amherst nor Harvard, we are in-between. And being
in-between is where we want to be. What the Task Force is trying
to do is make Tufts be more distinctively Tufts. The Summer
Scholars program is not as much a redefinition as a clarification
and enhancement of what we have been all along.”
Tufts can, and should, confidently communicate that distinction,
added Bharucha. “The Boyer Report came out unequivocally
that the best undergraduate education of the future will be
found at research universities that pay attention to undergraduates,”
he said. “Tufts is one of the few institutions today that
can offer the best of the student-centered liberal arts education
as well as the resources and opportunities of a research university.
We can aspire to both of those ideals.”
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