Coming into the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Catherine Koterba was a pre-med student with a passion for astronomy. Three years later, she is a microbiologist studying thermophilic archaea from the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park. On the surface, this appears to be quite the career shift. Yet, for Catherine, this transition was simply the product of a deep-rooted drive to try new things and a relentless persistence to get involved with the topics that generated the most interest.

Zubin Havewala and Garrett McPheron have been selected for the Carl R. Woese Undergraduate Research Scholar Program. They will carry out research projects over a 10-week period over the summer. The students will be supported by a stipend from the IGB and the goal is to inspire them to pursue important scientific questions.

The Carl R. Woese Undergraduate Research Scholar program is designed to inspire students to pursue important scientific questions. This year, Peyton Hopkins and Shreyaa Khanna have been selected to carry out their research for a 10-week period, supported by a stipend from the IGB.

Two of the most basic motivations that drive scientific research—exploration of the unknown and the desire to solve a pressing problem—are represented by this year’s Carl R. Woese undergraduate research scholars. Allison Narlock will spend her summer investigating the mechanics of archaeal cell division; Monika Ziogaite will be working to identify genetic variants that contribute to the metastatic potential of breast cancers.

In the summer of 2012, two undergraduate students tackled a problem that plant ecology experts had overlooked for 30 years. The students demonstrated that different plant species vary in how they take in carbon dioxide and emit water through stomata, the pores in their leaves. The data boosted the accuracy of mathematical models of carbon and water fluxes through plant leaves by 30 to 60 percent.

The researchers, based at the University of Illinois, report their findings in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.