I am a senior neuroscience and behavior major at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), and I wanted to write this feature article focusing on the earlier days of the Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research because I was interested in its impacts on former students. My own research experiences inspired questions for my interviews with Donna Brown, the founding director of the Hamel Center, and Jill Sible, one of the first undergraduates to receive a research grant.
The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)—the original name of the Hamel Center—was established thirty-five years ago, in 1987. (View timeline.) To learn about the program’s early days, I met with founding director Donna Brown. Brown recounted the process of establishing what was then known as UROP, and some important developments over its history, and she conveyed to me how its programs have impacted individual students, faculty, and UNH as a whole.
Brown noted that the Hamel Center made it possible for students in all disciplines to get funding for their research. Supporting students from all disciplines remains an essential mission for the Hamel Center. The founders of the Hamel Center also wanted to provide a complete learning experience for students. Brown told me that student feedback showed that the Hamel Center bolstered not only academic growth, but also time management, professionalism, confidence, independence, and emotional maturation. Brown said, “Research is different from writing class papers and studying for tests. There is a creative element and the need to troubleshoot and deal with the unexpected when you have to rethink or go in a different direction. One science student in biochemistry was getting strange results from a test-tube experiment only to discover that the test tubes hadn’t been properly cleaned. . . that experience of having to deal with something frustrating and figure out how to go on after losing time . . . it happens in the real world and it’s good to figure out how to deal with it.”
I asked Brown about the qualities of successful undergraduate researchers, and she said such students have initiative and are conscientious and respectful. But Brown also pointed out, “Sometimes students will surprise you, blossom, and absorb and take advantage of the situation and surprise themselves. Others come with confidence and bulldoze ahead and get all the benefit.”
There are many different ways to enter into undergraduate research and to reach some students who might not otherwise apply. The Hamel Center programs, while competitive, provide various research options that allow unsure students to participate and begin to develop skills. For example, undergraduates can get a first taste of research by earning course credit through INCO 590. With their faculty mentor for INCO, they plan the number of hours a week they’ll work on the research, and the course credit they earned reflects those hours. As Donna said during our interview, “The Hamel Center encourages all students to get involved.”
I asked Brown about some of the challenges that undergraduate researchers face. She said that in the early days of the Hamel Center, they realized that a major challenge was learning how to write a proposal. Proposal writing was new for almost all students. By applying for a research grant, students are able to get help from mentors and be walked through the process by the Hamel Center. Students are taught that every organization soliciting proposals has its own requirements and formats, and they need to make sure to answer every question effectively. The Hamel Center continues to regularly offer proposal writing workshops, supporting undergraduates through the whole process of research. The Hamel Center nurtures students along the way and teaches the important role of mentors.
As undergraduates began participating in research, Brown recalled, it became clear these programs also benefited their faculty mentors. Mentors had experience collaborating with graduate students, but often had not worked with undergraduate students. Mentoring Hamel Center researchers helped those faculty better understand how undergraduates learn.
After Brown helped develop the Hamel Center, it became an important contribution to UNH’s mission as the flagship research university in New Hampshire. She described the exciting development when Dana Hamel and other generous donors made it possible for the Hamel Center to be fully endowed.
I asked Brown about some particularly memorable students she met while working at the Hamel Center. She remembered former undergraduate researcher Jill Sible, an honors biochemistry student at UNH (class of 1990). I reached out to Sible to ask how her undergraduate experiences affected her life after graduation. For Sible, the impact of her undergraduate research experiences was so profound, she said she can almost trace the whole trajectory of her life back to them.
Sible was a first-generation college student and was admitted to UNH on a scholarship, and to support her education she worked at a grocery store every weekend and full-time during summers. Sible knew that she loved science and ever since she could remember, she thought she wanted to go to medical school. With her undergrad experience, she had the freedom to conduct research. She said that she “got the bug”—she loved working with other students and liked the lifestyle of a professor, which entails continuous learning and teaching. Sible received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) in 1989 for her first research project, which allowed her to focus on the project and afford research expenses. As a result of the SURF, she published a first-author paper with her faculty mentor, Dr. Charles Walker, on cell cycle regulation in a starfish model. (Read Article) Later she attended her first research conference in Virginia with Dr. Walker. Sible said that her UNH research experiences enabled her to have grad-like experiences like this as an undergrad.
Sible told me that she realized the positive, healthy environment a university was, and how much it enriched her life. She then knew she never wanted to leave academia and she pursued further education through graduate school and post-doctoral studies.
Sible went on to become a professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech, beginning as an assistant professor in 1998. And it’s indicative of her belief in the benefit of undergraduate research that she’s still involved in it even as a tenured faculty member. Currently, she oversees the Office of Undergraduate Research at Virginia Tech. In this position, she advocates for resources for undergraduate research and other student programs. Two of her main goals are making student learning more active and engaged, and making research more accessible to students from lower income and minority backgrounds. Sible believes undergraduate research is one of the best ways to learn professional skills such as communication, work ethic, and teamwork.
My interviews with Donna Brown and Jill Sible made me even more aware of the profound, lifelong impacts of undergraduate research made possible by the Hamel Center. Brown’s account of the Hamel Center’s history captured its successes and founding objectives: to provide the resources and financial support for the research, scholarly, and creative projects of UNH students in all disciplines. Sible’s story, passion, and persistence resonated with me, an undergraduate researcher in biological science like she was. Students conducting research may not realize the magnitude of their work and the extent of their personal and professional growth. But, as these interviews show, undergraduate research has far-reaching benefits: for mentors, the UNH community, and especially the students themselves.
