Internships
& Research Opportunities
What
type of internship opportunities
do you have available?
Why
are internship programs important
to the program?
What
special facilities does the Western
Biology Department have?
What
student research opportunities
are available?
Do
students and faculty work together
on research projects?
Do
students present research findings
at national conferences?
Does
your department offer any study
abroad opportunities?
What
type of internship opportunities
do you have available?
Nearly half of students
in the Biology program are involved
in practical learning experiences on-
and off-campus through internships,
research projects, and other hands-on
activities. On-campus teaching internships
are available every semester to upper-level
biology majors for credit.
Off-campus internships
are available to upper division biology
majors. Students may do faculty-sponsored
internships at state agencies such
as the Missouri Department of Conservation,
the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources, or an agency from another
state such as the Arizona Fish and
Game. The U.S. National Park Service,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
the World Bird Sanctuary and the International
Wolf Center are other agencies through
which students have completed faculty-sponsored
student internships.
Why
are internship programs important
to the program?
Experience
in the field is beneficial to each
student’s
education. Internships provide students
with a valuable hands-on experience
that is difficult to duplicate in the
classroom.
What
special facilities does the Western
Biology Department have?
Wildlife Conservation
and Management students have access
to a 180-acre field study area on campus
called the Otoe Creek Nature Area.
This land contains a network of trails
that run through various habitats and
along ponds and a stream. There are
two outdoor amphitheaters within the
study area.
The Missouri Department
of Conservation’s Northwest Service
Center is located on the nature area
with offices and labs for more than
25 Conservation Department professionals.
Modern classrooms, research labs and
a prep room for the Biology Department
are also housed within the Service
Center, along with a herbarium and
the Biology Department’s natural
history collection, which contains
museum specimens of vertebrates and
invertebrates.
Western has a Global
Positioning Systems base station located
at Agenstein Hall with telemetry equipment
and Global Positioning Systems/Global
Information Systems equipment and software
that is used in field biology research.
What
student research opportunities are
available?
A variety of faculty-sponsored
student research opportunities exist
within the department due to the wide
range of faculty expertise and willingness
of faculty to explore new areas. The
mission of the department is to provide
a collaborative learning environment
in which students and faculty can apply
their biological exploration and discovery
experiences as professionals and as
informed citizens.
In the past, several
students were involved in a Missouri
Department of Conservation-funded plant
monitoring in wetlands along the Missouri
River. In another faculty-sponsored
project, an individual student worked
with Squaw Creek National Wildlife
refuge personnel and a biology professor
to characterize the DNA of different
populations of the federally endangered
massasauga rattlesnake.
Do
students and faculty work together
on research projects?
All of our graduates
complete multiple class-related research
projects. Students also work individually
or in small groups on faculty-sponsored
student research projects.
Within the department
there is a great deal of positive interaction
among students and faculty that relates
directly to professional development
in the life sciences. Oftentimes research
projects required for a particular
class are turned into independent student
and faculty investigations due to this
positive interaction.
Do
students present research findings
at national conferences?
Sixteen students from
all programs in the biology department
presented 19 different research paper
or posters at state, regional and national
professional meetings last year. Some
examples include:
- Regional and national meetings
of the Beta Beta Beta National Biological
Honor Society in Missouri and Colorado
- Regional meeting of the Wildlife
Society in Indianapolis
- Missouri Natural Resource Conference
- Annual meeting of the Missouri
Academy of Science
- Federation of Associations for
Experimental Biology in San Diego
Three of our students
won awards at the regional meeting
of Beta Beta Beta and two were awarded
stipend grants to present their work
at the national meeting.
Does
your department offer any study abroad
opportunities?
Bio 220 Field Natural
History is a course specifically designed
for students to experience biological
habitats outside of the St. Joseph
area. Marine biology trips are scheduled
almost every spring. Recently marine
biology students have studied in Belize,
San Salvador, the Bahamas and Jamaica.
Special field natural history classes
to the Rocky Mountains and other destinations
are also offered from time to time.
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