Students, teachers, professors team up for science research
| Thursday, Jul 29 2010 06:00 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 29 2010 06:14 PM
REVS-UP RESEARCH, PROJECTS 2010
* The effect of moonlight on scorpion behavior
* Identification of antifungal bacteria from invasive marine species
* The movement of water through wood in native plants
* Genetic studies on the endangered Bakersfield Cactus
* Studying fungus-resistant bacteria on North American Bullfrogs
* Demonstrating scientific principles using household chemicals
* Studying potential medicinal uses for peppers
* Building and programming robots
* Studying sediments to identify petroleum and groundwater reservoirs
* Analyzing sediments from the ancient Tulare Lake to determine lake level history, evidence of a meteorite and/or a "Little Ice Age"
* The basics of graph theory, used in mapping, database management and more
* Exploring the world of chaos and unpredictability
* Connections between valley fever, land development and climate
* Measuring sound waves through gasses, liquids and small particles
Source: Cal State Bakersfield
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Frontier High School Junior Emily Lopez and Frazier Mountain High School Sophomore Natasha Anderson weigh and label scorpions that were caught in the wild the previous night. The experiment, which studies the behavior of scorpions based on exposure to ultraviolet light, is a part of the REVS-UP program in which high school students are paid to help professors conduct research.
Biology professor Dr. Carl Kloock uses a black light to demonstrate scorpion fluorescence on Wednesday. Kloock and his assistants use this technique to capture scorpions from the wild as part of his research, which was aided by a grant from Chevron's REVS-UP program.
Diana Figueroa examines Petri dishes filled with bacteria -- some of which looks fluorescent, some furry and moldy, and some that smells like "cheese and feet," as her partner Luis Machuca describes it.
They are part of a group headed by Cal State Bakersfield professor Kathleen Szick-Miranda trying to figure out why area bullfrogs do not succumb to a fungus-based skin disease that has wiped out frogs throughout the world.
What the group finds could impact global amphibian conservation and lead to the discovery of potential antibiotics for humans, Szick-Miranda said.
Impressive? Even more so if you consider the people helping her, like Figueroa and Machuca, are high-schoolers.
"This is a lot of hands-on experience," said Figueroa, a South High junior contemplating a science career.
This summer, 80 high school students and 20 high school teachers, along with several CSUB students, are teaming up with CSUB faculty to do science and research.
It's part of a program called REVS-UP, now in its fourth year, funded by a $400,000 Chevron grant.
Students get college credit, a $700 stipend and invaluable lab experience. Teachers get $3,000, to freshen up their research skills and to share what they learned with their high school students.
CSUB faculty get a little help with their research. And Chevron gets to build a base of young scientists that could one day work for it. The company has in recent months and years invested millions in local schools to spark student interest in math and science fields.
"The program has really invigorated not only teachers and students, but also us," said Andreas Gebauer, the CSUB chemistry chairman and REVS-UP program director. REVS-UP stands for Research Experience Vitalizing Science -- University Program.
This year saw a record number of applications from students and teachers, more than they could accept, Gebauer said. Program leaders try to include as many Kern schools as possible. Sixteen area high schools are represented this year.
In all, the groups work on 14 projects. Some are classroom-based, meant to give students and teachers a new way to learn and teach science.
That's the case in Thomas Meyer's class, where they're studying the speed of sound in various gases and under varying conditions. Students and teachers get to break glass using sound waves.
"It's a fun project because we get to break stuff," said Meyer, a physics professor.
Another example is the "Periodic Table to the Kitchen" class, where students and teachers make their own science experiments and demonstrations using household items. The purpose is to show students that science can be done, not just studied.
"It's a lot of fun," said Hanah Usher, a Stockdale High senior. "It's funner than taking notes or listening to lectures."
Teachers make a manual of the experiments to take back to their classrooms as Ridgeview High's Kevin Danley has.
But in other REVS-UP projects, participants are trying to find the next scientific breakthrough.
One group is studying whether there are genetic differences in the endangered Bakersfield Cactus to find ways to save it. Another is using state-of-the-art equipment to examine sediments collected from local water wells to find why some have higher levels of arsenic than others.
And another is studying behavior patterns of local scorpions and their response to moon and ultraviolet lights.
Students have gathered hundreds of them -- with tools they built -- from an area designated for biology professor Carl Kloock's research off Stockdale Highway and Interstate 5. The scorpions shine fluorescent under ultraviolet lights (which students also built), but why?
They're testing the effect of lights on scorpions to see if they change their refuge-seeking behavior (more predators seek scorpions with more moonlight), and they're videotaping them. For moonlight, they're hanging out on top of the Science I building on campus.
"If our hypothesis is true, this could be groundbreaking stuff," he said. "I'm hoping we can be publishable."
The students, he said, are getting to see how science research starts from the ground up -- from building equipment to testing and logging data.
"This is one of the best things we do at CSUB," he said.
In at least a few cases, results have been published in scholarly journals. Findings from Carl Kemnitz's research was published in "one of the premier journals in Europe" several months ago, he said. Students from REVS-UP, who helped him with the "Origin of Stability in Branched Alkanes" project, were named as co-authors.
"I think they were enthralled to see their work was publishable at that level," Kemnitz said.
Adam Nielson, a Liberty High School graduate who now works in the Kern County Department of Public Health, helped in Kemnitz's research.
"It was my first opportunity to do front-line research," Nielson said. "It was one of the most valuable experiences I ever had."
The program will wrap up next week when groups, particularly students, will give presentations on their projects to REVS-UP officials.
