Danny Davis is on a quest to crossbreed the most nutritional, tastiest corn possible. The senior plant sciences major from Shakopee, Minnesota, came to the University of Missouri eager to combine her interest in DNA with research that improves the lives of both farmers and consumers.  

Davis’ involvement in Mizzou’s Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) and Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) programs helped her discover an on-campus corn genetics lab run by Sherry Flint-Garcia, a research geneticist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Davis said the research skills she’s gained under Flint-Garcia’s mentorship have been the highlight of her Mizzou experience.   

“I have learned so much from Sherry. One of the main goals of our research lab is to crossbreed two types of very good corn to make the resulting offspring even better,” Davis said. “By analyzing the DNA of different types of corn, we can learn what the genotypes say about how it will grow, how much water to use, how it will smell, look, taste, and what it can be used for. Our ultimate goal is to help small farmers by offering them a tastier and more nutritious product to sell to businesses and consumers so that they can increase their profits without having to expand their land or compete against major corporations.” 

Davis’ efforts in Flint-Garcia’s lab ultimately will help small businesses in the Midwest, including Yoli Tortilleria, a corn tortilla factory in Kansas City, Missouri, and Wood Hat Spirits, a distillery in New Florence, Missouri.  

“On the corn tortilla side, many of the existing products on the market are made from commercial yellow dent corn and aren’t very tasty, so there is a lot of room for improvement,” Davis said. “And on the whiskey side, there is only so much you can do to tweak the aging process or oak of the barrel. At some point you’ve got to go back to basics and change what you are making the whiskey out of in the first place. Increasing the quality of the corn can be the difference between whiskey that goes down harder with more of a burn compared to whiskey that goes down smoother with a more complex melody.” 

Davis and her lab mates recently hosted a corn tortilla taste-testing event at Mizzou to get feedback from people on which types of corn make the tastiest tortillas. The feedback may eventually help farmers in Missouri plant new varieties of more flavorful corn that can withstand Missouri’s weather conditions and climate.  

Flint-Garcia refers to Davis as the lab’s ‘social butterfly,’ noting her persistence, assertiveness and ability to collaborate well with others as attributes that will help her succeed as her career progresses.  

“Danny is never afraid to introduce herself, ask questions, show her personality and communicate her goals and vision,” said Flint-Garcia. “Sometimes scientists tend to be more introverted, and her ability to learn new things and work well with others makes her a valuable team member wherever she ends up.” 

During her time working in Flint-Garcia’s lab, Davis was involved in analyzing and crossbreeding heirloom corn primarily from South America and southern Missouri. While Davis is set to graduate from Mizzou’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources this spring, Flint-Garcia’s lab recently earned grant funding from the USDA that will allow the lab to access and study 1,000 heirloom corn varieties originating from across the United States. 

“Now that the lab has corn from across the United States to work with, the sky is the limit,” Davis said. “It warms my heart to know that our research has been meaningful, and positively impacting the people that our data affects is a rewarding experience.” 

Davis, who will soon go to graduate school and pursue a doctoral degree in plant sciences, credits the support and mentorship she has received at Mizzou for all the opportunities she’s been able to take advantage of.  

“Being a part of MARC and IMSD helped me find paid research opportunities, support and mentorship, and hands-on lab work that is geared toward helping ordinary people out in the community,” Davis said. “All of the people in the Office of Undergraduate Research, especially Brian Booton, Sarah Humfeld and Linda Blockus, and my lab mentor, Sherry Flint-Garcia, have been so welcoming and encouraging to me throughout my collegiate journey. Mizzou has supported me, and I feel lucky I get to support farmers in return.”  

Written by: Brian Consiglio for The University of Missouri; used with permission. Find the original article here

UWL senior’s research reveals realities for students balancing jobs and academics 

Sidney Paulson, a senior at UW-La Crosse, stumbled upon the inspiration for an undergraduate research project during her ethnographic methods class. The inability of a group of students to coordinate a time to meet outside class due to their demanding work schedules sparked Paulson’s curiosity about the challenges faced by working students in balancing their academic and work lives. 

“In that initial research for class, many more questions came up for me about what people find important in college careers and the support systems that are most beneficial,” says Paulson. “I wanted to explore that more and bring more awareness to it.” 

Now, Paulson is bringing awareness about working students to the national level. She’ll present the results of her research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) April 8-10, in Long Beach, California. NCUR serves as a platform for student scholars from various academic backgrounds to showcase their research endeavors. UWL has hosted NCUR twice.  

Paulson’s research involved conducting an online survey targeting full-time UWL students who work at least 15 hours per week during the academic term. Subsequently, she conducted follow-up interviews with select participants to gain deeper insights into their experiences with work-life balance and their strategies for managing competing demands. 

Her research comes as a growing number of students turn to working long hours during college to pay for an increasingly larger percentage of their college education. The cost of higher education has increased significantly as state support for higher education has steadily declined for decades. Add on a rising inflation rate and potentially little to no support from the FAFSA, depending on parents’ level of assistance, and students are frequently left to fill the financial gaps themselves. 

Working college students make up a significant sector of the student population. About 40% of full-time students in the U.S. were employed in 2020, according to the most recent data from the federal National Center for Education Statistics. And the majority of students who work are working 15 to 35 hours per week, according to Inside Higher Ed. 

“A lot of them feel isolated from the broader college community. They are only on campus for classes, so they feel isolated from peers, and there is feeling of invisibility — both in nationwide discussions about college students and at the classroom level where a lot of their peers may not realize their realities or their teacher may not realize how much they have on their plate,” says Paulson. 

Elizabeth Peacock, an associate professor of anthropology at UWL, underscores the importance of shedding light on the challenges faced by student workers. These issues warrant greater attention and consideration at the classroom and national level. 

“Some of academia talks about this issue, but it’s not part of mainstream discourse. We’ve pushed this burden onto the people we’re supposed to be helping,” says Peacock. “It’s been happening in many states, and we are hobbling the next generation.” 

When work becomes a burden 

While working in college has been shown to have its benefits, like the ability to earn more after graduation and even perform better academically, a tipping point exists where too much work becomes detrimental. Previous research has found that 15 hours per week or more is the threshold where grades start to be negatively impacted by work, notes Paulson. Also, not all work is created equal. Low-income students are more likely to have jobs simply to pay the bills, while higher income students are more likely to find college work aligned with their passions and interests. 

Paulson says while working students may feel invisible in their college community, they also struggle with speaking up to make their situation more visible because of cultural norms.  

“There is the thought that you need to put your nose to the grindstone… People don’t talk about it because they think it is seen as complaining or that they are not taking advantage of the opportunities they do have,” she says.  

Yet, these students are footing an increasingly larger college bill than previous generations as tuition has increased, meaning longer work hours and less time experiencing college life. 

“There needs to be more discussion around how not everyone has the same resources. Through this maybe we can find solutions for these students who are falling through the cracks,” says Paulson. 

Students surveyed suggested various strategies for meaningful change such as more competitive pay for on-campus jobs or more community partners offering paid internship opportunities, allowing students to work in areas more closely aligned with their degree path. 

Paulson is grateful for this research opportunity that aligns with her future goals to go to graduate school. Her undergraduate research experience has solidified her interest in research, helped her connect with others and gain confidence in her abilities. Moreover, it helped her find her place in the UWL community as a working student. 

“It opened my eyes to the fact that a lot of other students are in a similar boat as me,” she says noting her working student status. “I feel like in a lot of the national discussion around college students, they are depicted as lazy and asking for handouts. My research has shown me quite the opposite. These students are working hard and working a lot … They want to contribute something to society and are willing to put in astronomical effort to try and do so.”

“She really put in some amazing work, and it shows.”

Written by: The University of Wisconsin – La Crosse; used with permission. Find the original article here