Abigail Dunagan, Campus Carrier features editor

Each year as the month of May rolls around, Berry’s campus begins to fall silent as students pack up their dorms and head home for the summer. Many look forward to the summer months as a time of relaxation and freedom from the constant cycle of exams, but this time serves as an opportunity for students to focus on jobs, internships, study abroad courses and student research. Berry may have felt empty during these summer months, but many students and professors have been working hard on various research projects.

Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Mark Turlington is currently working on two separate chemistry research projects. Both labs require a lot of student work, and this gives those interested in the field of chemistry the opportunity to build their resumes and learn more about the research process. According to Turlington, one of the projects is classified as organic reaction methodology research. 

“Really what the means is that we are designing new reactions that other chemists could then use for their particular applications,” Turlington said. “This could be making a new compound that hasn’t been made before, or making a molecule that has been made before more efficiently. The goal is to give chemists new ways to make molecules that might be useful.”

In addition to this project, Turlington and his students are working on applied research in the field of medicinal chemistry. This particular research involves creating molecules called PROTACS that can degrade proteins responsible for causing diseases. Both of these projects are still in the beginning stages of their development, and Turlington said that chemistry research can typically take 2-3 years to complete. 

Several students work for each of the lab projects, and the majority of them are chemistry majors. Turlington said that the students involved usually take an upper-level chemistry course that he teaches, and those who enjoy the subject express their interest in doing research with him. Once a student is placed in a professor’s lab, they will start by working six hours a week, and during the summer they are able to work 40 hours each week. When it comes to research in the sciences, success comes with a lot of trial and error. Students must be able to persevere even though their research might not lead them to the expected conclusion.

“I think it’s resiliency more than anything else that makes you successful in research,” Turlington said. “Just because a reaction looks good on paper doesn’t mean it’s going to work with the molecules you have. That’s something that you have to get adjusted to.”

Student research at Berry doesn’t stop within the science department; there are many different majors and disciplines that allow students the opportunity to take part in their own research. Senior Corina Coulter is a psychology major with a minor in applied behavior analysis. Last year she first began working on a research project under Associate Professor of Psychology Thom Ratkos, and since then she has had the opportunity to present at several conferences and continue research in her field. She is currently working on her honors thesis with both Ratkos and Assistant Professor of Psychology Miguel Ampuero. 

Coulter’s thesis will focus on finding a more efficient manner to teach early learners how to write numbers. She was inspired to pursue this project while working in an elementary school. After noticing that some children had a difficult time learning their numbers, Coulter approached Ampuero about looking into other studies about the subject. They found that this was a subject that did not have a lot of previous literature on it, and Coulter decided to pursue the topic further with her own research. 

“For me, research is not a checklist,” Coulter said. “It is really something that’s fluid, finding what interests me and what I can learn about it. You become a mini expert on it, and if that doesn’t work, then you shift gears.” 

Berry’s small community allows students to form close relationships with professors, and this in turn allows for more research opportunities. According to Coulter, it’s important that students interested in pursuing research get to know their professors and their personal areas of interest. Being willing to remain flexible and open to communicating an interest allows a student to get their foot in the door in the world of research. Coulter said that the opportunities that she has had within Berry’s Psychology department have allowed her to form a strong idea of her plans after college. 

“Just getting more involved, starting my internship and starting research has helped,” Coulter said. “I know I want to work in the schools, and what I want my focus to be. I’m not sure where I am going to grad school, but I am confident that I will end up in a good program.”

Research is also possible for students in the humanities departments. Associate Professor of History Christy Snider has worked to mentor students as they work on their own independent research. Over the summer, she assisted Senior Hannah Suggs during her research of Southern Jewish Women’s organizations between 1930 and 1955. This topic was one that did not have much existing literature, and Snider helped Suggs locate information using archival materials such as newspapers and organizational records. They also visited the Breman Museum in Atlanta to find additional resources on the topic. 

According to Snider, research in the humanities tends to work differently than that in the sciences. While scientific research often involves several students working alongside a professor, humanities professors typically mentor students as they work on individual research. The experience helps students gain skills before entering the workforce, but it also helps them strengthen writing and research skills in the classroom.

“You get to see what they are interested in, and what they are capable of doing,” Snider said. “This research opened my eyes on some things I didn’t know about before in Jewish women’s history, and that was exciting for me, too. I think those types of connections are really great.”