Research Methods 1 – Sternberg Museum of Natural History

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Starting location: Sternberg Museum
Hays, Kansas (July 7th)

Ending location: Sternberg Museum
Hays, Kansas (July 12th)

Introduction

This program offers a full week introducing participants to the basics of designing and conducting a science research project. Students will start out learning how to construct a quality research question, and how to approach the process of addressing that question in an efficient, productive manner. Using local wildlife and skeletal collections at the Sternberg Museum, the group will collect a useable data set in teams, which they will then work to combine and organize. These data sets will be put into use immediately, as students learn how to visualize data and test hypotheses through various descriptive statistics and graphing methods. To best prepare students for future research work in college, the bulk of the statistics and graphing work in this camp is carried out via coding in the free software language R. The R statistics and graphics platform is a widely used research tool that can be used to answer a variety of questions in the earth and life sciences. The coding and statistical tests students will learn will provide them a foundation of knowledge that will help them excel in their future science experience.
Staff

Paleobiologist, doctoral researcher (University of Oregon)

Instructor: Dana Reuter
Dana has always been interested in the natural world and has tried on many scientific hats over the years. She has worked as a research assistant on glacial lake sediment flow in Svalbard, Norway, as a sample collector in the Grenville orogeny in Canada, and as a research student studying milk tooth morphology of the Carnivora (group that includes bears, dogs, cats, and weasels) at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History. In 2015, she received a B. A. in Geology and an Honors in Biology from Mount Holyoke College. Now, Dana is a PhD candidate working with Dr. Samantha Hopkins in the University of Oregon Vertebrate Paleontology lab. Her research on mammalian paleoecology focuses on reconstructing ancient food webs from fossil localities, tooth variation in the Carnivora, and the evolution of omnivorous diets. Alongside her research, she has a passion for teaching and was named a 2018 Summer Institute Scientific Teaching Fellow. When she is not working on understanding ancient mammals she is getting lost in the woods, playing board games, and reading philosophy books.

Paleontology student, camps alumnus

Teaching Assistant: Arabelle Konrad
Arabelle is a junior at the University of Michigan where she is planning on getting a major in geology and a minor in paleontology. She has been interested in fossils and animals for as long as she can remember. To further those interests, she attended the Field Paleontology: Kansas camp in both 2015 and 2016 and the Southwest Biology camp in 2016. She is mostly interested in vertebrate paleontology and plans on specializing in the Carnivora (the family of mammals that includes animals such as cats, dogs, hyenas, seals, and weasels). She also enjoys art and collecting fossils, rocks, and bones.
Designing a Scientific Study

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes of a scientific discovery. From the beginning curiosity and the data collection to the final product, scientists have to make many informed decisions about how to proceed with a study. By working in groups on question development and hypothesis identification, students will both work through past studies and design their own scientific questions. Students will then learn about different kinds of data and will do hands on activities collecting their own data. Finally, students will learn how to describe their data and test their statistical significance using both excel and the coding language platform R.

By reading example studies and working with real datasets students will learn about every step in the process of doing scientific research. This course will start them on the road to becoming well rounded scientific thinkers.
Data Projects

Students will work with staff on a data collection and analysis projects, learning an abundance of new skills along the way!
- Using carnivorous mammal molar measurements to infer body size.
- Measuring dimensions of mammal eyesockets relative to skull size to assess potential nocturnality.
- Surveying plant communities on the Sternberg Museum’s Howard Reynolds Nature Trails.
Additional Information and Logistics

Drop off is 8:00am on the first day at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. Pick up is by 5:00pm on the last day.

Please see Frequently Asked Questions for information about attending the camps for out of state students.

You can follow along with our camp programs on Twitter and Instagram at @SternbergCamps.
Application Requirements
- All application materials must turned in no later than May 14th, 2019. (But, the see the Admission Decision Schedule tab below for our four application and admission periods from February to May.)
- Student applicants must be ages 14 to 18 as of June 2019.
- Complete online application.
  - To do this, you will need to set up an account with CampDocs. You can do this by clicking the link above. Once this is done, you’ll be able to log back in to your account as you complete the application process.
  - The waiver can be found in the online application.
  - The financial aid application can be found in the online application.
- 2 page (5-7 paragraph) letter of interest from the student applicant.
  - You can find suggestions for writing your letter of interest here.
  - This must be submitted through the CampDoc application system.
- Letter of recommendation from the non-family member for the student applicant.
  - This must be submitted through the CampDoc application system.
  - You can find instructions for recommendation letter-writers here.
  - Returning students in good standing do not need to submit a recommendation letter.
    - Standing is determined by staff. A student not in good standing will be expressly notified by the Camps Director.
Admission Decision Schedule

We run on a rolling admission schedule from February to May. Each month, we will evaluate students with complete application files to determine admission and scholarship award decisions. If your student is denied admission to a camp, you will be specifically notified. Below we have listed evaluation period cutoff dates, and notification periods.

Please contact us at SternbergCamps@FHSU.edu if you have any questions about this process.
- Application period 1
  - Cutoff: February 23
  - Admission notifications: February 24th-28th
- Application period 2
  - Cutoff: March 23rd
  - Admission notifications: March 24th-28th
- Application period 3
  - Cutoff: April 20th
  - Admission notifications: April 21st-25th
- Application period 4
  - Cutoff: May 14th
  - Admission notifications: May 19th-24th
Program Cost

Tuition is $630 per Sternberg Museum member, and $700 per non-member.

A 10% deposit is paid at the time of registration. Students who are accepted into the camp must then have the remainder of the registration fee paid by the May 14th, 2019 registration deadline.

Q: What if my student is not accepted into the camp they applied for? Do you refund tuition?
A: 100% of the deposit and any paid tuition is refunded to any students not accepted to a camp they applied for. This includes the initial deposit paid at the time of initial application.

Q: What is your cancellation and refund policy?
A: If a camp is cancelled, full refunds of any amounts paid up to that point by participants will be refunded. Any awarded financial aid funds will be retained by the Sternberg Science Camps program. If a student withdraws from a camp they have been accepted to, refund amounts will vary depending on the trip, and timing. See below for details.

Refund policies Domestic Programs:
For programs taking place within the United States, cancellations must be submitted in writing, via email or typed letter. Each camp registration is held to a 20-percent cancellation fee. If you cancel 30 to 10 days prior to the start of a program, half of the total fee is refundable. If you cancel 9 or fewer days prior to the start of the program, no amount of the fee is refundable. Registration fees are non-transferable between applicants.

International Programs:
Cancellations and withdrawals must be submitted in writing, via email or typed letter. Up to the registration deadline of May 1st, 2018, the program fee is fully refundable. After May 1st, the registration fee is only 50% refundable, as we will have already provided payments for airfares, accommodations, and guide services.

For answers to more possible questions, see our Frequently Asked Questions page!
Contact Us

For questions about the Sternberg Science Camps programs, contact us at SternbergCamps@fhsu.edu or 785-639-5249.

Finding Your Question

Developing a workable research question involves more than canned hypothesis testing often used in science class. It requires the investigator to refine potentially large questions into smaller, approachable studies with a defined set of variables and collectable data. Students will be guided through the process of generating questions, and turning those questions into realistic, productive research projects.
Collecting Data

Once a research project question is defined, it’s time to set to work figuring out what data you will need to collect! But how much data do you need? How does one go about collecting that data?? Where is the data located? Yeah, there’s a lot to it! Students will work with staff to learn the necessities of data collection, how to avoid common mistakes and problems, and proper organization practices.

Students will put these lessons to work, collecting group data sets in the Sternberg Museum research collections and on-site nature trails.
Data Analysis and Presentation

Once data has been properly and completely collected, students will organize measurements and notes into spreadsheets that can be used in analyses. From basic descriptive statistics to significance testing and data visualization tools, students will learn how to conduct basic, essential analytical methods in pursuit of addressing group project questions. Analysis and graphics will be done via the coding language platform R, which is widely used among professional earth and life science researchers.
Hands on Learning and Critical Thinking

Students will take an active part in the learning process in this program. Through discussions in groups to reporting on example studies, students will be asked to develop their critical thinking skills in a student focused learning environment.