January 15, 2012

With NSF Support, Research Moves Into Science Labs of 2-Year Colleges

Andrea Hook (left) and Jessica Prame work with James A. Hewlett, their biology professor at Finger Lakes Community College, to test their method for extracting and purifying a protein. The college has a grant from the National Science Foundation to foster undergraduate research at two-year colleges.

By Dan Berrett

Canandaigua, N.Y.

Phil Longyear and his laboratory partner were just a few minutes into their experiment, but they had already gotten ahead of their fellow biology students here at Finger Lakes Community College.

When their classmate Carey Phillips walked over to their lab table, they found out why.

"Did you guys heat your samples?" she asked.

"No," Mr. Longyear answered. "Oh. Darn."

He and his lab partner had skipped a vital step in testing the process they designed to isolate,