ACADE MICS
Where Academics and Research Meet:
Experiential Learning at SAAS A CORE MISSION OF LANGSTON UNIVERSITY’S SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE AND APPLIED SCIENCES (SAAS) IS TO PREPARE STUDENTS TO COMPETE AND EXCEL
STORY
IN TODAY’S DEMANDING PROFESSIONS. FACULTY, STAFF, AND ADMINISTRA-
TORS AT SAAS KNOW THAT CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION ALONE DOES NOT PROVIDE THE FULL COMPLEMENT OF TOOLS AND CAPABILITIES STUDENTS WILL NEED TO THRIVE. TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH THE MOST MEANINGFUL AND REWARDING LEARNING EXPERIENCES, SAAS PAIRS THEM WITH SCIENTISTS WORKING ON ADVANCED RESEARCH INITIATIVES SO THAT THEY CAN GAIN DEEPER KNOWLEDGE, SHARPEN ANALYTICAL SKILLS, AND ENRICH THEIR UNDERSTANDING. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO BUILD FOUNDATIONS THAT WILL ENSURE THAT SAAS GRADUATES HAVE THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO DRIVE INNOVATION, COLLABORATE EFFECTIVELY, AND EARN LEADERSHIP ROLES IN GOVERNMENT, ACADEMIA, OR INDUSTRY.
D
uring spring 2020, SAAS faculty and research scientists mentored a total of 41 students, who assisted with research projects and related activities in their disciplines. Beyond the classroom — in laboratories, greenhouses, farm fields, pastures, and at professional symposiums — they honed their abilities in socioeconomic analysis, genetics and genomics, bioinformatics, technology development, computer programming, professional presentation, and more. B I O T E C H N O L O GY R E S E A R C H : F R O M D N A T O DATA
Research scientist Dr. Yonathan Tilahun teaches molecular biology 28
LANGSTON UNIVERSITY
techniques to students working in the SAAS Teaching Laboratory. His research mentees from the natural resources management program — Jahlin Williams and Talia Alexander — performed DNA extraction for microbiome research and prepared samples for gene sequencing. Research mentee Charles Lett, Jr., a computer science major, focused on bioinformatics and the uses of various software applications for data analysis. “Each student made contributions to the growth and development of the Teaching Lab’s capabilities,” Tilahun said, “from helping complete wet laboratory bench work to finding answers to computational problems before even taking a (continues on page 30)
