Brugia Malayi - Clark Science Center - Smith College

INTRODUCTION
“I don’t know.” This is a statement that can be easily misunderstood if a person is not familiar with how a
scientist conducts her work. As scientists, we are the experts…right? Many assume that with all the facts
scientists generate, they should have ready, definitive explanations in response to most questions. Emerging
from a misunderstanding of what science is, or isn’t, a lively debate is underway about the role of science in
national decision and policy making. For young scientists graduating into the national landscape where the
role of science may be questioned, the world has become considerably more complicated. And they need to
be ready for it.
Preparing our science majors for the world they will be entering is fundamental to our science and engineering
education philosophy. Student-faculty research collaborations are at the center of this ongoing effort. These
collaborations provide direct exposure to what science is about: successful and failed experiments, clear and
ambiguous results, moving forward and starting over. Our student researchers quickly realize they are on a
path of discovery. While textbooks provide important factual foundations, Smith students soon learn that the
biological and physical worlds are also characterized by countless unanswered questions. Combined with
excellence in classroom teaching, our students learn science by doing science. Through this educational
process, we work to foster the confidence reflected in their declaring, “I don’t know, but I’m determined to
find out.”
The summer of 2012 saw the number of students seeking summer research experiences with a faculty
mentor reaching record levels. In total, 179 students participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows
(SURF) program, involving 59 faculty mentor-advisors, representing all of the Clark Science Center’s
fourteen departments and programs. The richness of this program and the collaborations which fuel it are best
stated by one of our young scientists:
In parallel we worked on course material that could help students who will take the class.
It was probably not supposed to be that much fun, but that is what always happens when
scientists connect with their research and see what they do not only as a job, but as a way
to make a difference.
— Lucy Chikwetu
Student-faculty research projects knew no geographical bounds. Studies were conducted as locally as the
Smith Botanic Garden and MacLeish Field Station, and as distantly as international research sites in Africa,
Latin America, South America and Asia. Research topics covered an extraordinarily diverse array of questions.
Topics covered the smallest of structures from DNA and protein molecules, to large structures such as the
coastline of Chile, to the largest of structures, a galaxy cluster.
Our ability to extend this level of student support is the direct result of our partnerships with public and
private institutions, involving 39 funding sources, which provided both funding and encouragement. This
broad-based support of Smith College’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows Program also represents
a record number of contributing partners. With their generous support, we are able to create an overarching
atmosphere of collaboration, learning and research, and a community of students and mentors working with
a common purpose.
2012