Research Stories

by Linley Erin Hall

Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and the faculty members who advise them carry out most research at Arizona State University. But many undergraduate students also work in campus laboratories. They're not simply washing test tubes, either. They work beside other researchers on projects that lead to new knowledge and even to the creation of new products.

"Our lab doesn't differentiate between undergraduates, graduates, and post-docs," says Lokesh Joshi, an associate professor and director of the Center for Glycosciences and Technology in the Biodesign Institute. "We all work together as a team. In our lab, everyone is a scientist."

All students in the Barrett Honors College must complete a thesis or creative project. Many of these projects often involve a hands-on research project. But new programs are getting non-honors students into the lab as well.

The School of Life Sciences Undergraduate Research (SOLUR) program and the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative (FURI) in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering are just two examples. Both programs provide funding for student researchers. They also sponsor symposia where students give presentations about the work they've done.

"Research is often the most rewarding experience students have during their undergraduate career. They realize that ‘Yes, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,'" says Wilson Francisco, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

Caitlin Wichlacz

Jumpstarting a career in anthropology

1,582. That's how many pieces of broken pottery Caitlin Wichlacz examined under the microscope when she was a senior at ASU.

"I'd sit in the lab until 2 or 3 a.m., and then I'd get up the next morning and do it again," Wichlacz says. "I think I've found the right field."

Wichlacz was an anthropology major who graduated in May 2006. She was one of several undergraduates working on the Landscape Legacy Project. The project brings together archaeologists, ecologists, and others to study the Native American ruins on Perry Mesa in the Agua Fria National Monument north of Phoenix.

"We're attempting to answer bigger questions about the nature of the settlements on Perry Mesa," Wichlacz says. "The sites look the same in many ways, and they look like they're arranged in a specific way. But we don't know what their economic and social relationships with each other were."

As a junior, Wichlacz began working with David Abbott, an associate professor of anthropology who studies ceramics. They first collected broken pieces of pottery from three different pueblos, focusing on the spot called Pueblo La Plata. Abbott and others conducted chemical analyses to determine the composition of a subset of the pottery pieces. These experiments guided Wichlacz's work on grouping the ceramics.

Ceramic materials are tempered with sand, which is made of tiny bits of rocks and minerals. Wichlacz trained herself to recognize mafic particles, dark minerals rich in magnesium or iron. The presence or absence of mafic particles divided the pottery into two clear groups. These groups indicated two different types of temper used in the ceramics.

The researchers found that neither temper type includes basalt. But Pueblo La Plata sits on a thick layer of basalt bedrock. If the pottery was made with local materials, it should contain basalt.

The inhabitants might have traded with nearby pueblos and thus obtained the pottery. Perhaps they brought tempering materials from elsewhere. Another possibility: the ASU researchers may have more to learn about the geology of Perry Mesa.

"Each new piece of information we get sends us on a new path," Wichlacz says. "We're learning more and more, but not what we thought it would be."

In April 2006, Wichlacz presented her research at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeologists. She was nervous about her speech, but presenting in a session with other researchers in the Landscape Legacy Project helped her feel more comfortable. She is also writing a paper on the work with Abbott and Gordon Moore, an associate research professional in the department of chemistry and biochemistry who helped characterize the pottery.

"I found out that I can be flexible," Wichlacz says. "I can work in the field collecting data—be out in the dirt and sun with the bugs. On the academic side, I can also write and do research in the lab."

Wichlacz is now pursuing a master's degree in archaeology at Washington State University and hopes to complete a doctorate some day.

"She's a very gifted young lady," Abbott says. "I predict she will become a star in the discipline."

For more information about ceramics and the Landscape Legacies project, contact David Abbott, Ph.D., School of Human Evolution and Social Change, 480.965.6452. Send e-mail to David.Abbott@asu.edu. Read more about the project at http://researchmag.asu.edu/stories/agave.html