主要研究 今天

How do you set yourself apart from the crowd while also pursuing your passion? Undergraduates at 主要研究 are finding that answer resides in scientific research — specifically, leading their own research project and publishing the data and results, sometimes before they even graduate.

对于许多崭露头角的科学家来说, their first foray into conducting and publishing research comes during graduate school. The phrase “publish or perish” is not completely tongue-in-cheek; it speaks to the weight that peer-reviewed 发表 research carries and its importance in the careers of scientists. 特别强调的是在这些手稿的作者名单中名字排在第一位的人. 一般来说, 第一作者是研究责任的带头人，承担了大部分的写作和编辑职责.

在进行和发表研究的同时，要平衡完整的课程负担，这并不适合胆小的人. 坚持不懈和自我激励是许多选择这条道路的学生的关键特征, 正如以下三位与联合国大学有联系的人所揭示的那样，他们在本科期间发表了第一篇论文.

Opening the door to future opportunities

Tristan Amaral ’15 majored in Earth science with a focus on climate, and he was interested in gaining some research experience outside the classroom. He reached out to scientists at the 主要研究 Earth Systems Research Center (ESRC) to discuss some options, and that led to his involvement with the CoCoRAHS反照率项目, 这是一个公民科学项目，旨在测量和绘制降水数据，以及雪等表面反射的阳光. Amaral not only helped to collect snow albedo measurements, but he also managed the program and was responsible for analyzing the data. This formed the basis for his research, which he twice presented at the 主要研究 Undergraduate Research Conference 最后是a 科学论文 he wrote based on the research results.

“我在ESRC的那段时间对我的职业生涯影响很大，帮助我朝着科学研究的方向前进,阿马拉尔说. “作为一名本科生，能够真正进行研究，了解这个过程是如何运作的，这为我提供了一个重要的机会，让我学习技能，然后在毕业后作为一名研究人员应用这些技能.”

这个过程很有挑战性, 他说, 因为进行研究和展示结果所需的技能并不总是在本科课堂上教授的. “So you really have to start at step one: how to collect and process the data, 如何制作科学的数字, 如何撰写和组织一篇科学论文——这些技能通常不教本科生,阿马拉尔解释道. 

他承认，很难找到时间来平衡他的课程负担和写手稿, which he started while still at 主要研究 and then finished up after graduation. He credits this experience for helping to open doors for his next career steps.

“I think my research with ESRC was instrumental for getting into grad school,他说. “我的成绩和经历都很好, 但能够证明我是第一作者，并进行了几年的研究，这对我申请的所有学校都很有帮助, and I even received a couple of scholarship offers.”

Amaral’s advisors on this project — including 主要研究 researchers Cameron Wake, 杰克Dibb, 伊丽莎白Burakowski, 还有玛丽·斯坦朋, 他们也是论文的共同作者——为他提供了平衡的支持和空间，使他能够成功地完成整个过程.

“They had a vision in seeing this through, and they were very patient and helpful in getting me there,他说.

改变职业生涯的经历

Lily Zhao was an undergraduate at the 芝加哥大学 2012年，她听说了主要研究的大学生北方生态系统研究(NERU)项目, which was led by researcher Ruth Varner of the ESRC. 她说，她之所以被NERU项目所吸引，是因为这种经历可以让学生完全探索自己的兴趣，并为他们提供成功所需的资源和指导. 赵被该项目录取，并于那年夏天前往瑞典北部学习驯鹿生物学，并了解土著萨米人传统的驯鹿放牧方式, which cultivated her passion for both ecology and social science.

This led to a deeper dive into studying reindeer diets, which became her senior honors thesis project at the 芝加哥大学. 这项研究是 发表 发表在《永利app新版本官网地址》杂志上, together with international collaborators and her NERU advisor Erik Hobbie of the ESRC.

目前为Ph.D. 候选人 University of California, Santa Barbara, Zhao credits the 主要研究 NERU Program for changing the trajectory her career. “The experience was life-changing,她说。. “It was the first research opportunity I ever had, I didn’t have any experience before that. 我认为成为一名科学家是件很棒的事，但我并不完全知道这意味着什么——我有一种暗示, but I didn’t truly know until I went through this process myself.” 

Zhao offers some advice for undergraduates who are considering getting involved in research. “You need to be persistent even if you don’t get a response from a professor first,她说。. “Join their lab and ask to do your own project rather than only working the faculty member's projects; faculty and researchers are really receptive to that can lead to lifelong mentorship relationships.”

增长的启动平台

艾拉·塞达霍尔姆(Ella Cedarholm)， 19岁，来自北卡罗来纳州李市.H. native, is passionate about the ocean. “I always knew I wanted to incorporate the sea into my career path,她说。, noting that she’s majoring in Earth sciences with a concentration in oceanography. 西达霍尔姆申请在英国工作 海洋过程分析实验室(OPAL) as a freshman where she helped to collect and test water samples from the Gulf of Maine and around the world; she’s been working at the lab and occasionally on the 墨西哥湾挑战者号 almost every semester since then, with Joe Salisbury and Chris Hunt as her lab supervisors.

去年春天，她参加了一个 SEA学期海外学习计划, 在那里，她花了六个星期的时间在一艘从新西兰开往塔希提岛的船上，进行她的第一个研究项目，研究南亚热带锋面的纬度变化. Cedarholm went on to conduct research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in their physical oceanography department last summer. 她使用计算机模型来研究太平洋西部边界洋流是如何阻挡来自日本福岛灾难的污染物向南移动的. This study formed the basis for her research paper, which will be 发表 in Geophysical Research Letters this spring.

Cedarholm建议那些对研究感兴趣的本科生应该在大四之前就参与进来. “My work study at OPAL opened doors for me to go out to sea and work on other research projects,她说。. “能够告诉未来的雇主我已经在实验室工作了三年，这让我比其他求职者更有优势. And having computer programming experience is helpful and important for any research project, 不管话题是什么.”

She admits that it’s tough to balance school work with her research, but outwardly she seems to be handling it with aplomb.

作为论文的第一作者, 我进行了大部分的数据分析，现在我为每周与我的导师讨论发表论文所需的编辑会议准备议程,她说。. “这学期我要修满所有的课程，而且每周五我还在OPAL实验室工作.她笑着说. “But I’ve always had a strong work ethic, 等我毕业的时候, 我将成为第一作者,她自豪地补充道.

The Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) is 主要研究’s largest research enterprise, comprising five centers with a focus on interdisciplinary, high-impact research on Earth and climate systems, 空间科学, the marine environment and seafloor mapping. With more than $43 million in external funding secured annually, EOS营造了一个知识和科学的环境，在世界一流的研究和研究生教育中推进了有远见的奖学金和领导力.