Faculty Spotlights
Faculty Spotlight: Mark P. Staves, Cell and Molecular Biology
What are your undergraduate research mentor experiences?
Student Scholars Day, Student Summer Scholars, REU (Cornell), Faculty advisor, Michigan Space Grant Consortium, Bridges to the Baccalaureate, Minority Science Research Program
Would you briefly explain the focus of some of the most recent research you have mentored students in?
My work has centered on how plant cells perceive and respond to two environmental stimuli: gravity and light.
Why is mentoring undergraduate research an important component of your work?
Science faculty like to teach and do science. Since science is a process, as well as a way of thinking, it can best be taught by doing it. Working with undergraduates allows for the most meaningful, one-to-one teaching and learning experience.
If a student is interested in your field of research, what are some suggestions or tips you might share with them to help them get more involved and/or better prepared to engage in this type of research?
Talk to faculty who share your interests about their research, read the literature and ask to become involved with an investigation.
Who are some of your previous mentees, and what are they doing now?
Pervious students are currently employed as a professor of biology, a National Science Foundation logistics provider in Antarctica, a postdoctoral scholar at Harvard University, a secondary school science teacher, and a student in medical school.
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