Three Saint Michael's College students spent their whole summer in a lab measuring what happens when nicotine is administered to rats. Using the highest level of approved, compassionate care for the animals, the students got results that will figure in published articles in science journals.
"I couldn't have been more fortunate with these students, as people, as scientists, as lab partners," said Dr. Ari Kirshenbaum, assistant professor of psychology. "We were just published in this international journal, The Journal of Behavioural Pharmacology, and the article is being considered for a special edition-it shows we can produce world class research here at Saint Michael's College," he said.
Two of the student researchers, Eric Jackson, a senior psychology major from Weare, N.H., and Seth Brown, a senior psychology major from Gorham, Maine, presented the results of their research with Professor Kirshenbaum at the American Psychological Assocation annual meetings in Boston this month. Caitlin Adamo, a junior psychology major from Livingston, Montana, has been working with this team all summer, helping take care of the animals, running data and learning how to analyze results.
"I want the students to get experience answering scientific questions using scientific means in a collaborative way," Dr. Kirshenbaum said. "It's more important to learn the process than to answer the specific questions," he said, as he instructed Eric to show Caitlin how the latest results were graphed on a nearby computer. "I try to guide students in the lab, while giving them the freedom to make their own errors-when they succeed they take all the glory," he said.
The students' summer research has been funded through Professor Kirshenbaum's $70,000 Vermont Genetics Network (VGN) grant, titled "Psychomotor-Stimulant Induced Behavioral Sensitization," and through a separate VGN student summer stipend. Their research is examining the effects of nicotine on impulsive behavior in rats, as well as the effects of mecamylamine, a nicotine blocker.
Seth Brown, the son of James and Katherine Brown, who graduated from Cheverus High School in Portland before coming to Saint Michael's, also presented his research at a conference on VGN-funded student research, where he won the Student Presentation of the Year Award. His 2007 project was titled "Chronic Nicotine Administration in Rats: Promotion of Impulsive Behavior or Key to Behavioral Tolerance?" Brown has already been published and has presented posters at four professional conferences. He plans to attend graduate school to study criminology next year, with a future goal of doing behavioral analysis for the government.
When not in the lab, Brown is president of the psychology honor society, Psi Chi, a member of the varsity swim team, specializing in free style and breast stroke sprints, and a practitioner of mixed martial arts.
Eric Jackson, the son of Jeffrey and Deborah Jackson of Weare, N.H., graduated from John Stark Regional High School before coming to Saint Michael's. A top student, Jackson's grant from VGN this year is titled "Measuring Nicotine-Induced Impulsivity Using the Stop-Task in Rats." He is currently developing a project for his senior research, and plans to go to graduate school for a doctorate in clinical psychology after graduation.
When not doing research, Jackson spends time doing volunteer service the through college's MOVE (Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts) programs. He has been a mentor to an inner-city youngster from a troubled background for the last three years. He will continue to meet with this 14-year old boy this year at least once or twice a week for movies, pick-up basketball, a burger or other entertainment. The relationship the two have developed has given Jackson's 'mentee' confidence for entering Burlington High School this year.
Caitlin Adamo, the daughter of Deborah Certier, graduated from Park High School before coming to Saint Michael's. Her summer job in Professor Kirshenbaum's lab has given her total immersion in psychology research. Funded for the summer out of the Professor's grant, Adamo has worked full time "learning how to run programs, work with the animals, master Excel on the computer," and she said, "I got to work with good people-Professor Kirshenbaum is very helpful, especially in assisting me with figuring out my future."
Adamo plays first flute in the Saint Michael's College Wind Ensemble and takes all the dance classes she can fit in, having been a dancer since age three. When needed, she fills in for the college yoga instructor. She said she misses Montana, but finds Vermont similar and said, "I really like Saint Michael's College; I've made good friends and have really gotten to know my professors."
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report rankings.