Graduate Assistant
Bonaventura Scholars Summer Research Fellows Program
From May through September 2023, I served as the Graduate Assistant for the inaugural Bonaventura Summer Research Fellows Program at Duke University Marine Laboratory. Beyond supporting the six-week fellowship, I continued refining the curriculum after the program concluded by expanding the Bonaventura Scholars Workbook, developing assessment tools, and creating student exit surveys to evaluate the program's effectiveness and improve future cohorts.
Inaugural Cohort: May 17, 2023 - June 28, 2023
The Bonaventura Summer Research Fellows Program is a six-week immersive research experience at Duke University Marine Laboratory that prepares undergraduate students to conduct independent research and develop projects that can serve as the foundation for a senior honors thesis. The program combines formal training in experimental design, research methods, ethics, and scientific communication with faculty-mentored research experiences, allowing students to develop both the technical and professional skills needed to become independent scientists. Through research proposal development, journal discussions, community engagement, and final presentations, fellows gain hands-on experience in the full research process while becoming integrated into the Duke Marine Lab research community.
In 2023, I participated in Duke University’s Summer Course Development Grant program, an initiative designed to strengthen undergraduate education while providing Ph.D. students with training in evidence-based course design and pedagogy. Working with Dr. Meagan Dunphy-Daly, Erin Voigt, and Dr. Thomas Schultz, I helped develop the Experimental Design & Research Methods course that serves as the introductory component of the Bonaventura Summer Research Fellows Program. My primary contribution was creating an interactive Bonaventura Scholars Workbook that integrated course content, guided activities, proposal-development exercises, and research deliverables into a cohesive learning resource. Through this process, I found myself thinking more deeply about the fundamentals of scientific inquiry including how research questions are developed, how experiments are designed, and how these skills can be effectively taught to others.
Reflection of Course Design
"One of the biggest challenges with designing a course like this is striking a balance."
What began as a curriculum-development project became a formative experience in my own growth as a researcher and mentor. Perhaps most rewarding was the opportunity to help create a program that continues to support undergraduate researchers today and to watch students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines become excited about the process of discovery. Many of the relationships and conversations that began through the Bonaventura community have continued well beyond that first summer, reinforcing my belief that mentorship and scientific training are among the most meaningful aspects of academic research.
