For Undergraduate Students, Dr. Plopper's Laboratory

General expectations:

My management style is largely hands-off. I generally meet with undergraduate students in one-on-one sessions about twice a month, or more often as necessary. All undergraduates work with a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher in the lab and are expected to interact with them daily. While students are not expected to be in the lab during proscribed hours, it is important that our work hours overlap enough that we see each other often. This relatively informal mentoring style leaves students a great deal of freedom to manage their time. With this freedom comes the responsibility of effectively balancing school and personal responsibilities such that sufficient time and energy can be devoted to research. Undergraduate students in this laboratory typically spend about 20-30 hours per week doing research.

All members of the Plopper lab are expected to be good citizens, and to conduct themselves as professionals. Graduate students are expected to mentor undergraduate students. Once an undergraduate student has been assigned a graduate mentor, both must sign a contract outlining lab policies and specific expectations for both the mentor and the mentee.

Projects available:

At this time, the laboratory is full and no new positions will be available until Summer 2007 at the earliest. Please check in here periodically for updates.

Techniques currently in use:

Most of the techniques we use can be generally grouped under the heading of "Cell and Molecular Biology." Although this not an exhaustive list, here are some of the techniques we use:

Cell culture: Mammalian and bacterial cell culture, cell freezing and thawing.

Microscopy: Phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy, including confocal microscopy.

Cell signaling: Protein kinase assays, ELISA assays, fluorescence-based Ca⁺²assays

Protein biochemistry: SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, affinity chromatography, immunoprecipitation.

Molecular biology: Northern and Southern blots, in situ hybridization, PCR, baculovirus-based protein expression, DNA microarray analysis, DNA transfection.

Cell behavior: Adhesion assays, migration assays, transendothelial migration assays.

Resources available:

The laboratory is currently stocked with the following equipment items.

Sterile cell culture hood
Cell culture incubators, CO₂ tanks, regulator
Olympus phase contrast microscope (cell culture).
Liquid nitrogen freezer
Zeiss HM505EVP automated cryostat
Leica DM LB HC 100 TL fluorescence/phase contrast microscope with digital SPOT camera and associated Gateway Pentium II computer with color printer.
Refrigerator (4°C)
Freezer (-20°C)
Personal computers + printers
Digitizing scanner
Constant temperature water baths
Clinical centrifuge
Micro-centrifuges (2)
pH meter
Laboratory mixing/rocking platforms (2)
Laboratory microbalance
Laboratory stir/hot plates (3)
Heat block
Horizontal and vertical electrophoresis equipment, with power supplies, suitable for all types of electrophoresis, from minigels to two-dimensional electrophoresis to DNA sequencing and differential display
BioRad semidry transfer apparatus
Gel dryer
Bacterial incubator

In addition, shared departmental equipment includes ultracentrifuges, an X ray film processor, -80°C freezer, etc. The campus has superb computing access and services.

Finally, we also have access to the multitude of core facilities available in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, as well as at nearby campuses.

Travel/Attendance at meetings:

Exceptionally productive undergraduates may present their work in poster format at national meetings. Travel to meetings may be supported by internal and external grants.

Funding:

RPI offers a small stipend as part of the Undergraduate Research Program for research during the school year. For more information, contact the URP office.

Outcomes: What are my former students doing now?

I have trained over 20 undergraduate students for at least one semester each in the past four years. Most were interested in pursuing either graduate or professional school, and many have gone on to pursue post-baccalaureate degrees. For example:

Kilpatrick Carroll worked with me for three years, presented a poster at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) national meeting in Washington, D.C., co-authored a manuscript, and is now a Ph.D. student in the genetics program at Columbia University. Kil is also the recipient of a National Science Foundation predoctoral fellowship.
Carla DiGennaro's two years in the lab included a summer internship at a biotech firm we were collaborating with (Desmos, Inc.) and a poster presentation at a ASCB meeting. After graduating, she served as a technician for a year at Stanford Medical School, and following graduate work in the Molecular and Cell Biology program at U.C. Berkeley she is now an Intructor at Skyline College and Merritt College in California.
Antonette Andres received a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, an American Heart Association summer internship at U.C. San Francisco, and was awarded funding by the American Association for Cancer Research to attend its annual meeting for two years. She completed her Physicians Assistant training in 2006 and is now practising in southern California
Genevieve Weber and Megan Keefe both ended up in Ph.D. programs at Johns Hopkins University.
Several former students have enrolled in graduate, medical or dental schools including the University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, UCSF, and UCLA.

How to apply for a position:

See above regarding space availability in the lab. Students are strongly encouraged to take Introduction to Cell Biology (BIOL-2120) and Professor Edick's Cell and Developmental Biology Laboratory course (BIOL-4740) prior to applying for a position. If you are interested in joining my laboratory, please send me an email message with the following information:

Name
Contact information
Year in school (junior, senior, etc.)
Weekly schedule, indicating times you are available to work in the lab
Summary of science coursework taken to date: course name/number, and grade
Name and contact information of a faculty member who may serve as a reference
Brief statement of goals: Why do you want to work in this lab?

I will review your submitted information and respond as soon as possible. Thanks for your interest!

Last revised: Thursday, January 11, 2007