Search results matching tag 'Research'

Summer get-together: lab style!

SarahG — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:41:00 GMT

If you've read some of my previous blogs, you probably already know that I'm a member of Dr. Bohannon's psychology research lab. I've written about various conferences in different cities and all of the fun stuff we get to do as a result of our hard work. Well, not only do we meet up for travel and such, but we also have group meetings right here in Indy. Dr. Bohannon's house is only a couple of minutes away from campus, and he often invites us over to discuss research over meals. (Yes, he cooks for us!)

Yesterday afternoon us "labies" who are living at or near Butler this summer got together at Dr. Bohannon's for a grill-out. While he made us burgers, potatoes, and corn we discussed progress since APS and new directions in research. Some of the members are developing new studies for the Fall, and are trying to prepare everything over break. I got to tell everyone about how my study is going so far and share the preliminary results I've already found in my data set. One of the things I like most about being in Bohannon's lab is that although we each get to run our own studies and work as first authors, we still have the support and help of the rest of the lab. We run ideas across each other and offer advice when necessary. It's the best of both worlds really - you get the firsthand experience without being left entirely on your own. Of course, it also looks awesome on grad school apps!

As for my BSI study this summer, it is going very well! It's hard to believe I'm already in week seven though... only two real weeks left of research before presentations have to be made. This week is the last week I'm collecting data, and next week I'll have to score all of the protocols, enter data, and analyze it to look for significant results. It's been a lot of work this summer, but completely worth it! I'll have a head start on collecting data in the fall, so that I'll be able to jump right back in during the first week of school. It's a good thing too... I have a feeling we'll all be back on campus for the fall semester before we know it!

Summer slipping on by...

SarahG — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:24:00 GMT

Having been back at BU for 3 weeks, I'm starting to get settled in to my daily schedule. When I'm running my study, I start the day around 7AM, test participants at 8AM, meet with my professor at 10AM, and get back to my apartment in time for lunch. I usually spend my afternoons reading previous studies and research, searching for new studies and research, preparing for the next day's experimental session, and recruiting new participants. Luckily, having my research as my "job" allows me to be flexible with planning. I try to get done with everything around 5 so I have time to work-out, make dinner, and spend the rest of the evening just relaxing and hanging out. The other night I got to watch a movie with a few of my sisters who had just moved back to Butler for the summer. It was fun because I hadn't seen them since the end of the school year, so of course we stayed up chatting all night... which in turn made it not-as-easy to wake up at 7AM the next morning haha.

It's crazy to think that BSI is already 1/3 of the way over. In 6 weeks I'll be moving back to New Pal for about a month before the fall term begins. This summer is seeming to go a LOT faster than last summer, probably because I'm back on campus and keeping myself busy. I'm already making plans for the rest of the summer as well. In July I'll be heading to Cedar Point with some of my sisters for a weekend trip, and in August I'm going to Minneapolis to visit my cousin Laurie! I'm also turning 21 in mid-August, so that will be a lot of fun! Summer will be over before I know it... but I'm okay with that. Not only is fall my favorite season, but I love coming back to school for welcome week to see everyone again!

Psychology, tourism, and having some fun!

SarahG — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:27:00 GMT

As promised, I have pictures from my trip to San Francisco this weekend! It was absolutely amazing... not only did my lab members and I get to see numerous presentations on what's hot in psychology right now, but we also had ample free time to explore the city and have some fun.

Here are a few pics from the conference! There were poster sessions, symposiums, and speeches given throughout each day covering almost every topic in psychology imaginable. What's cool is that there was something for everyone... neuroscience for me, along with cognitive, social, etc. Butler had six posters from Bohannon's lab in addition to other posters and presentations from other psychology students and professors!

As I mentioned above, we also were lucky enough to see famous San Francisco sights throughout the trip. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, enjoyed fantastic dinners in Chinatown and at Fisherman's Wharf, and watched the sea lions at Pier 39. It was amazing... and worked nicely as a little incentive for working so hard during the school year!

Needless-to-say, I had a fantastic time and am grateful for the opportunity to present my research and explore a new city all in one trip. For incoming psychology majors, definitely look into joining a lab! Yes, we work extremely hard during the school year preparing and running studies, but the end result is completely worth it. And if you want to join the coolest psychology lab at BU, you know who to ask! :)

San Francisco, here I come!

SarahG — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:06:00 GMT

I'll be leaving my apartment bright and early tomorrow morning (6:00 AM!) to fly out to San Francisco for APS! This psychology conference will be a bit different than previous years because some members of the Butler psych department other than my particular lab are also attending! Another one of the professors, Dr. Lineweaver, is taking her lab group of students with her, and a few more professors are going as well. It will be great to have support during our presentations from the BU psych community, and also to check out what some of the other labs are researching! They'll also get to join us at dinner so that should be a lot of fun! So now I think it's time for me to pack-up and get ready for a great Memorial Day weekend out in San Francisco... then it's back to BU on Monday to continue working on my summer research! Be sure to look out for pictures when I get back!

Back on campus!

SarahG — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:22:00 GMT

Today was the official start of the '09 Butler Summer Institute! Yesterday we moved into our apartments in the University Terrace Apartment Village, which are provided to participants free-of-charge for the 9 week program. I'm living in a two-person apartment with one of my sisters, and it's absolutely huge! I didn't really know what to expect coming in, since UT is the older apartment complex at Butler, but it's actually really nice and very roomy. The futon and television look miniscule in the giant living area, and we have so much closet/pantry space we don't even know what to do with it! It's kind of exciting living on our own... an apartment has a very different feel of freedom than a dorm room or sorority house.

To kick-off the Institute, this morning we met for breakfast before participating in a community service project. We went to the Governor's Mansion (which is only a few blocks from campus!) to work with Keeping Indianapolis Beautiful. The organization was setting up a project for the Lily Day of Service on Wednesday. We helped organize trees, bushes, and other plants that will be planted by Lily workers in various areas across Indianapolis. It was a beautiful day today, perfect for working outside! It was also cool to meet and hang out with other BSIers, since we will all be working on research projects here at Butler this summer. Everyone participating in BSI lives in UT, and tonight we have another meeting to get to know each other and learn a little bit more about the apartment complex. I'm happy that I got the chance to live here this summer, and am excited to really get started on my research tomorrow!

Summer daze

SarahG — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:31:00 GMT

I've been focusing on some countdowns to get me through this terribly dull start to my summer. Let me tell you, there's not much to do in New Pal, so I have basically been spending my days sitting around, watching TV, doing laundry, sitting around more with friends, unpacking, etc. But luckily there are a few upcoming events for me to look forward to!

Two days from today I'll be moving back to Butler for the start of BSI. I'm really excited about this because some of my best friends from BU are living there this summer too! Plus it just feels like home to be back on campus. I'm also stoked to get started on my research... I mean seriously, how cool is it to get paid to live at Butler for the summer to work on something you love? The only downfall to this is missing out on spending time with my friends from home. I have a group of girlfriends that are still really close and make it worth coming back to NP for a while. The good thing is that BSI ends with a month left of summer where I'll be job-free and back to hang out with my high school friends. It's really the best of both worlds!

Second countdown: one week from this moment I'll be on a plane to San Francisco! APS, one of the psych conferences my lab attends, is being held there this year! I absolutely cannot wait... I have never been to California... EVER. These trips are always so much fun because on top of presenting the research we've been working hard on all year, we get to tour the cities and try out different restaurants and shops. The lab is like our own little family, so we have a blast no matter where we go (although California doesn't hurt haha)!

So that's my summer thus far... and it's about to get much more exciting!

Party. Play. Study. Sleep (a little).

ChristinaL — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:21:00 GMT

What a jam-packed weekend! (I think busy-ness is going to be the general theme of the rest of my posts for this year.) I’m writing about a lot of things I did this weekend, so I’ll bold what each paragraph is about and you can skip around.

In theory, Friday should have been less busy because both of my classes were cancelled for the Undergraduate Research Conference. This is a huge conference at Butler where undergrads from all around Indiana come to our campus and present their research. As a junior, this is actually the first year I have not presented… since I studied abroad in the fall, the major research I’ve done has been in Spanish, so I decided not to present that!

However, as I have mentioned before, my smarty pants roommate Kim spent all last summer researching black holes with her advisor (and she got paid to do it with a grant from the Butler Summer Institute). So, I went to see Kim present her work on Friday and she was fabulous. I actually understood some of it, and I know nothing about astronomy or physics, so you know she did a good job explaining. I would have liked to go to more but SO many of my friends were presenting that I just couldn’t see everyone.

Here's Kim talking about black holes!

I spent Friday afternoon at my internship at NUVO Newsweekly doing some research for future stories, setting up interviews, and editing another intern's piece. It was a great week for me at work because I had four bylines (stories with my name on them) in the paper! I laugh and call it "the Butler edition" of NUVO, because a large number of the main stories were written by myself and Michelle Skinner, another Butler English major. What can I say? Indy businesses and non-profits love BU students as interns! Anyway, I definitely encourage you to read the Cultural Trail story and check out their website for more info, because it is an extremely cool project that combines a bike and pedestrian trail with public art and cultural hubs to make Indy into an even more exciting and unique city. To check out this and more of my writing click below:

My Cultural Trail Story

My green business story

My theatre review

Friday night we had a cookout for Kappa Kappa Psi, my band fraternity, and our sister band sorority down in Butler's Holcomb Gardens. It’s nice to be away from everyone and surrounded by all the trees and grass – it almost feels like being off campus! We also had a great recital with fun performances by some of our members.

I saw even more performances later that night downtown at Spark a Revolution, a performance/party/fundraiser for the Earth House (an organic café/social justice and arts venue downtown) and the Indy Fringe Theatre Festival (which I am interning for this summer – yay!). It was definitely different from most performances I have ever been to, and definitely convinced me that artsy, liberal people DO exist in large numbers in Indianapolis! One of my favorite “acts” of the evening was when a group of modern dancers started an improve dance through the crowd and tons of audience members joined in – it was really beautiful and touching to see that ANYONE can be a dancer! The evening ended with a grand finale featuring some ridiculous break dancers and a performance from a BMX biker. This seems totally random to pair with modern dancers but it was very artistic and reminded me of figure skating. It was too dark for me to get a video for you, but if you want to see another example, click this link for a great video of Andy's BMX skills!

I got home from that event at midnight… took a two hour "nap"… and then got up at 2 am for Spring Sports Spectacular! It is an all-campus, all-night sports competition that raises money for Special Olympics and I was definitely on the late night shift! I played tetherball at 2:30 am, doubles badminton at 3 am and ultimate Frisbee at 4 am. We got second in badminton and had lots of laughs overall. One word of advice: although free food is always tempting (and available every hour at SSS), don’t have two cheeseburgers and a Pepsi immediately before playing tetherball… it’s more intense than you think! ; )

Saturday I let myself sleep in a bit, and spent the rest of the day catching up on reading until we had Senior Wills for Pi Phi. The seniors pass down all their old Pi Phi clothes, share memories, and give out awards to the younger members. I got: Best Hair (if you haven’t noticed from my pics, it’s crazy haha), Most Likely to Fall Asleep In Class (because I’m so busy that I don’t sleep enough – but I promise I never sleep in class! I’m just well caffeinated.) and the Running With the Bulls Award for the Biggest Risk Taker. That last one was kind of surprising, because I’m a pretty responsible person, and I don’t make rash decisions, but they said I’m willing to put myself out there, which I guess is true! Going to England alone could be one example of that, if you want to read my blog about it : )

Today we had a brunch at Pi Phi, and I had Student Orientation Guide training. For all the incoming students, I hope you are excited about Welcome Week in August! It’s going to be really fun and you will meet so many cool people. We have some fabulous activities planned!

Other than all that, I’ve pretty much spent all my spare time STUDYING! Finals are soon, and I have lots of reading, research and paper writing ahead of me. Right now, my life is consumed by an essay for comparative lit about The Tin Drum, a famous German novel from the 1950s by Gunter Grass. Speaking of which, time to get back to that essay…

Butler Summer Institute

SarahG — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:05:00 GMT

I don't know if I've mentioned this in any previous blogs, but this summer I'll be staying at Butler to work on my psychology research! Butler Summer Institute (BSI) is a program that offers grants to student researchers in both science related and non-science fields. 30 total students get accepted into the program, and are invited to live (free of rent!) in the University Terrace Apartments for nine weeks of the summer. Each research project is overlooked by a faculty advisor, and both the professor and the student receive a stipend for their work! So basically I get to further my research as a summer job... very cool!

This summer I'll be continuing my memory study from the school year. I wanted to take a more neurological approach with my research, since I plan on studying neuropsychology in graduate school. My goal is to look at the effects of glucose on memory retrieval. Aside from just research work however, BSI offers several other fun events to bring the participating students together. We met as a group for the first time this week to hear of some summer events. They already have an Indians game and several picnics planned throughout the course of the program. It should be a great experience and I'm excited to get started! (And honestly... I'm just happy I get to stay at BU for most of the summer haha!)

World Tour 2008

ChristinaL — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:19:00 GMT

Hey everyone! Sorry for my summer-long absence! I meant to write a wrap-up post for the school year and to let you know about my summer plans, but things got ridiculous. Even after I finished all my final exams, I still had to write a 15 page research paper for my Honors class AND finish the yearbook, basically on my own. Add that on to moving out of Pi Phi for the year and packing up all my things for my summer adventures and I was a busy chica.

So, what was I up to that kept me away from my beloved internet access all summer?

I was a member of the colorguard for the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps. I like to think of our summer experience kind of like a travelling Broadway show. We moved into spring training at Denison University in Ohio on May 17, and had about 4 weeks to learn our show. Then we got on our buses, and toured the country, performing in venues like the Alamodome in San Antonio, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, and the Buffalo Bills stadium in New York, with World Championships held at IU in Bloomington, IN.

We basically lived on a bus all summer, so my seat partner Lindsey was the closet thing to a roommate I had! Fortunately we became best friends over the season. Our show was about boxing (think the movie Rocky!) so here we are getting into character on the bus before one of our shows:

Below you can see me in uniform at Finals with my friend Blair (the Barbie in the corner was the colorguard mascot, Sha-Coco)

Here's the crowd we performed for at Finals!

Each drum corps is made up of about 150 members between the ages of 16 and 22, so imagine a bunch of college-aged kids living together 24/7 for three months... obviously it was crazy, dramatic, and so much fun. I miss them all so much already! As much as I wish I could perform that show again and be back with those people, though, I am kind of glad the summer has come to an end.

I was away from home for 3 months, travelled through (I think) 18 states, had more 11-hour rehearsal days than I care to remember, and performed in 29 shows! It was a busy summer, coming straight off of a busy year.

I was cleaning out my room this week and came across my planner from Butler last year. Talk about (color-coded) chaos! Every day was overflowing with meetings, lunches, reading assigments, exams, and the weekends were more of the same plus social events, road trips, holidays and more. I will be the first to admit that I was way overbooked this last year. I never want to be THAT busy again because I did not get enough sleep or time to just relax with my friends and family... however, when I think back about all the cool things I have been a part of, I can at least know that all the stress and lack of sleep was worth it.

In the last year I have...

Performed with the 6th best drum & bugle corps in the world

Presented my own research at academic conferences on and off campus

Truly become friends with some of my professors

Been a part of many philanthropy events, including leading a Relay for Life team

Lived in a sorority house for the first time

Lived apart from my best Butler friend and survived

Become a Big Brother x 2 and a Big Sister for Kappa Kappa Psi and Pi Phi

Organized a new fundraiser that raised over $2000

Helped my KKPsi chapter host District Convention here in Indy

Been hired as a Writer's Studio tutor (I'm a real English major now! ha)

Restructured the Student Foundation with our amazing exec board

Overcome my fear of poetry

Read the (almost) complete works of Jane Austen (we skipped Northanger Abbey)

Written a LONG research paper about a topic I knew nothing about before this year

Come up with a great list of the hilarious things my roommates say at 2 am

Supported one of my friends in his Student Government Association presidential campaign (He won!)

Travelled to the NCAA tournament with the men's basketball team! (and witnessed so many other great victories)

Led the production of a yearbook and a literary magazine

Found new restaurants, museusms and theatres to love in Indianapolis

Had some great debates

Made SO many new friends

Discovered crazy new ideas

Overall, not too shabby.

And now... I am about two weeks away from moving to Spain for the next leg of my whirlwind 2008 world tour - studying abroad in Madrid for a semester! Now all that's left to do is pack, make my grand plans for the trip, and um, remember how to speak Spanish! Wish me luck! And feel free to leave a comment in Spanish for some translation practice : )

Me + my profs = bff

ChristinaL — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:44:00 GMT

Okay, my title for today is intentionally over the top, but if you don't go to Butler, I don't think you can quite understand how awesome and friendly our professors are, how well they know us, love us, go out of their way for us, and even become our friends.

I really realized this last Friday when I was presenting an anthropology paper at the Undergraduate Research Conference here at Butler. (For those of you who have read this blog for a while, this was the paper that was the last thing I had to finish during finals week last December! haha, at least it turned out well.)

The URC is pretty sweet. Here's what happens:

Almost all classes get cancelled.
Students from many other colleges in Indiana come to our campus.
Those students + the coolest Butler students (haha) - all undergraduates - get to present our research at a legit conference!
Intellectual discussion ensues.
We all get free t-shirts and free lunch and go home happy.

If you're not familiar with the academic world, undergrads typically don't get to present at conferences very often. However, I'm only a sophomore and I've already presented at three academic conferences. Last year I presented an English paper at the URC, and then I presented the same anthropology paper at the 2008 URC and the Central States Anthropological Society's conference that was held in Indy. So what does this have to do with professors? I never would have even known about these opportunities if it wasn't for my professors who encouraged me to sign up for them and helped me prepare. \

Mad props to my anthro professor, Dr. Edwards - we call her Elise. She is pretty much the coolest professor ever. Not only are her classes amazing and she is so interesting to talk to, but:

she is a huge help whenever it comes to papers and research
she stayed at Butler until 10 pm helping us prepare our talks for the conference
she once bought our whole class Starbucks
she hires her upper level students as babysitter
when her students go abroad and get homesick...they call her!

I hope that gives you some idea of the rapport that exists between professors and students.

Another example: I invited some of my professors to my presentation on Friday, and my art history prof Elizabeth Mix came to listen. I saw her at another presentation later and she passed me a note that said "Your presentation kicked ass! : ) " That pretty much made my day! She is also way cool in many of the same ways as Elise, but I especially enjoy her emails to me when something is funny and she writes "LOL!" hahaha. I love it. Whoever said profs are stuffy has clearly never been to Butler.

My last example for today (because I could go on for a while) is my Global & Historical Studies teacher. We have kind of a running joke about how I am a troublemaker, which is funny since if you know me, I'm quite the opposite. Check out the following email exchange. I have removed his name because I didn't really ask him if I could put his email up on my blog... but if you are looking for a humorous G&H teacher, email me and I'll tell you who he is.

Hi Dr. ____,

I apologize for not being in class on Wednesday. However, I think you will forgive me because the reason I slept through my alarm was that I was up into the early hours of the morning at Sigma Nu plotting with other concerned students to overthrow the Student Government Election Commission and bring more power back to the students. You did say earlier in the semester that you wished we would protest more, so I hope you think this is a worthwhile excuse for missing class.

Our amendment to the SGA bylaws did pass, and the assembly chose to overrule the Election Commission's decisions, so I think it was a good use of my time. We also had a protest last week informing students of how the Election Commission was attempting to restrict their first amendment rights, so this is definitely relevant to the Enlightenment themes from C&T. Too bad I already did my freestyle overnight write.

I am definitely still a troublemaker. Sorry about that.

See you next week,

Christina

His response:

Good for you ... troublemaker. And the SNus are nice boys, you corrupter of the innocent.

As you can tell, my professors/bffs and I have some good laughs.