Aaron Clark, junior biochemistry major, has already had a year and a half of experience working in a genetics lab.

“My favorite thing is being able to learn ahead of the curve,” Clark said. “The techniques of chemistry, biology, biochemistry, they kind of integrate well because you have an opportunity to learn techniques well in advance of the textbook and things like that. And being able to actually do them is the best part.”

Undergraduate research gives USI students experience and an edge when they apply to graduate or professional schools.

Clark most often isolates and expresses DNA in the lab.

“My favorite thing is being able to run out the results of that, which would be an SDS PAGE gel,” Clark said. “That’s the best way to identify the successfulness of the experiment.”

An SDS PAGE gel (sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) separates proteins based on their molecular weight, according to bitesizebio.com.

Then, Clark expresses the proteins.

“I think that having hours of research under your belt is the best way that you can show that you can actually apply your knowledge as opposed (to) just being able to regurgitate it from a textbook or lecture slides, etc.,” Clark said.

The goal of research is to be published, but learning along the way is when one learns the most, Clark said.

“One of the most important things about early undergraduate research is being able to take negative results and learn how you can change your procedure or interpret those negative results to find what you’re looking for,” Clark said.

Clark wants to be a doctor, and his experience in lab will help him prepare for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

“A lot of the MCAT is being able to interpret results, which is often (something) you have to do in undergraduate research,” Clark said. “The results may not always be what you expect, but you have to explain why you got your results and taking the next step to finding ultimately what you want.”

Clark will apply to Indiana University School of Medicine at the end of the summer of 2014 after he takes the MCAT.

Clark wants to be a specialized doctor who focuses on an organ or an organ system he finds interesting, he said, and he thinks the brain and the heart are the most interesting organs, so he wants to be a cardiologist or a cardiothoracic surgeon.

“I can’t think of a more fulfilling and challenging (profession),” Clark said.

Biology Professor James Bandoli uses undergraduate researchers to help him research mating the strategies of the spottail darter, a local fish, he said.

“Even if we had grad students, undergraduates tend to bring more enthusiasm to a project. So for that reason, they’re often more enjoyable and enthusiastic to work with,” the behavioral ecologist said.

Bandoli researches how spottail darter nest sites are selected, how males find mates, how nest site quality and the spread of fungal disease in eggs influence hatching success and what males can do about it.

Behavioral ecology is how behavior influences organisms and their environment, Bandoli said.

The students pick the professor that they want to work with and the research project they are interested in.

“We don’t require students to do research as part of their graduation, but if you want to go to graduate school or some professional schools, having some undergraduate research will enhance your application, so we try to accommodate students that want to do research,” Bandoli said.

Bandoli makes sure the students understand his research.

“Students meet with me and we talk,” Bandoli said. “And based on their interests and what kinds of things they’re comfortable doing. Not everybody likes to wear waders and go out and splash around in streams. We decide, ‘yeah this will work, here’s what the timeline is,’ and give them a stack of papers to read and go from there.”

If the student wants to do their own research, Bandoli helps the student plan his or her project, he said

Bandoli’s research is seasonal because the spawning season for the spottail darters is from March to May, which is when most of the work is done, he said.

Usually the researchers will stay with him for one research season, but sometimes they will stay for two seasons, Bandoli said.

“Very often the first time you go through (an experiment) you’re really just figuring out how to do what you really want to do,” Bandoli said. “Occasionally I’ll have a student who will work with me for a couple of years and the first year (is just) figuring out how they’re going to do it and the second year they collect most of their data.”

If Bandoli has grant money, he will pay the researcher. But if he doesn’t have the money, the student can get credit for the research they do, he said.

Bandoli has worked with 29 or 30 students in the 30 years he has worked at USI, and he keeps in contact with some of them.

Working with undergraduates helps professors get to know their students better.

“Plus it gives me material for letters of recommendation,” Bandoli said. “I can talk about how responsible they are, how easy they are to work with, how they contribute to the research, whether or not they can be allowed to work with minimal supervision, etc.”