Summer Research

Summer Research: Independent Research Summer Program (IRSP) Initiated in 2006, the Independent Research SummerProgram is a multidisciplinary initiative that includes opportunities for research studies in various biological and environmental disciplines.  In previous years, research focus was on molecular and cellular biology, genetics, developmental biology and microbiology.  Starting in 2012, IRSP opportunities will expand to include field studies such as ecology or environmental science, and both field and laboratory opportunities in other applied life science, such as agriculture.  The program consists of one week of orientation and training in research literature conducted and supervised by ARCC faculty, followed by 10 weeks of part time research under the guidance of a University of Minnesota faculty mentor.  Students earn three semester credits upon successful completion of their research project, assessed by the presentation of a thesis research paper.

Our students participate in a wide variety of research experiences in both the lab and in the field.  Many of these students have also participated in local, regional, and national meetings where they have presented their research to professional and academic audiences.

For more information on research projects and opportunities in the Biology Department of Anoka-Ramsey Community College, please contact Kristen Genet at kristen.genet@anokaramsey.edu.

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The importance of spatial scale in the study of biodiversity - an Independent Research Summer Program study conducted by Hannah Kruse.

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Research conducted by David Tilman at the University of Minnesota and others  demonstrated that total system function of a prairie community, measured as productivity, nutrient cycling, resistance to invasion, and resilience following disturbance, increases as each new species is added to the community, however, at some level of species richness the community became saturated and its productivity no longer increased.   In the previous studies relatively small plot sizes were used and so the hypothesis tested in this study was that the species richness-productivity relationship may be affected by the size of the plots used in these studies.   The prediction in this study was that as plot size increases, productivity saturates at a higher level of biodiversity.  Research was conducted at the University of Minnesota’s Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in the summer of 2012

Research Opportunities

Applied Structural Genomics

Undergraduate Research in Molecular Biology is a course that applies the basic concepts of biotechnology to real-life research problems. Students  utilize the equipment and procedures of a typical biotechnology laboratory including aseptic technique, precision pipetting, agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE separation of proteins, polymerase chain reaction, transformation, and cloning. Overall goals of the research project include identification of genes of interest, in vitro amplification of genes, in vivo cloning, gene expression and analysis of gene products (proteins). Students keep laboratory notebooks, will do both laboratory and library-type research, and will present research to the class.