Turning undergraduate researchers into collaborators

The oblivious way to use undergraduate researchers is to have them do some repetitive task like maintaining experimental plants or counting algal cells in microcosms. But undergraduates have the potential to be true collaborators, contributing to all aspects of a project, and facilitate faculty research. To be successful, faculty need to provide appropriate guidance and mentorship, promote students’ sense of ownership and responsibility for the research, and look past GPA for potential. Faculty can advance their research programs with undergraduate collaborators and along the way provide high-impact experiences to next generation of ecologists.