Student Experience
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Among
the
thousands
of
picnickers
and
athletes
the
Cleveland
Metroparks
play
host
to
each
year,
this
past
summer
saw
the
addition
of
two
industrious
sophomore
researchers
from
Baldwin
Wallace.
Under the tutelage of Dr. Kathryn (Katie) Flinn, biology majors Elisha Bly '21 and Chloe Dickinson '21 examined tree community changes in an old-growth beech-maple-hemlock forest in the North Chagrin Reservation.
The team presented their research findings at the Cleveland Botanical Garden Holden Forests and Gardens S.E.A.R.C.H. Undergraduate Research Symposium and co-authored a paper with Flinn. The paper received excellent critical reviews and is currently in revision at The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society.
Bly
and
Dickinson
both
found
their
participation
in
BW's
new
summer
STEM
faculty-student
collaborative
scholarship
program
to
be
incredibly
enriching.
Bly,
who
has
set
her
sights
on
a
career
with
the
EPA
or
NASA,
credits
the
experience
with
helping
her
to
discover
a
future
professional
focus
on
research.
"I
learned
field
and
analysis
skills
in
a
new
environment,"
she
said.
"It
was
amazing
to
work
with
Dr.
Flinn
on
this
project.
She
never
let
us
give
up
and
pushed
us
to
do
much
of
the
analysis
on
our
own.
It
was
a
great
learning
experience."
Presenting at the S.E.A.R.C.H. Symposium and co-authoring a paper with Flinn and her classmate were also highlights of Bly's STEM internship. "I feel 100 percent more prepared for my future career as a result of the work I was able to do," she said.
Dickinson,
who
plans
to
work
in
the
field
of
wildlife
rehabilitation,
found
great
value
in
learning
how
to
collect
and
analyze
data,
develop
a
hypothesis
and
arrive
at
a
well-founded
conclusion.
The
skills
she
acquired
apply
across
all
scientific
disciplines
and
will,
she
says,
serve
her
well
in
her
future
work.
Dickinson
encourages
other
students
to
engage
in
internships
and
other
real-life
experiences
outside
the
classroom.
"Don't
be
afraid
to
reach
beyond
what
you
believe
your
abilities
to
be,"
she
said.
"You
may
feel
you
aren't
qualified
for
some
of
the
opportunities
presented,
but
you
never
know
until
you
try.
You
could
be
missing
out
on
an
incredible
experience."
