March 8, 1999

Community college students tour UCSC science labs

By Tim Stephens

The ACCESS program's Spring Lab Tour brought 34 community college students to UCSC last month for an introduction to campus research programs. ACCESS is an academic bridge program for community college students interested in pursuing a career in research science.

Analytical instrument manager Jim Loo (at computer) gave a tour of the nuclear magnetic resonance lab. (more photos)

The tour included students from five regional community colleges: Hartnell College, Cabrillo College, Monterey Peninsula College, Gavilan College, and San Jose City College.

"The Spring Lab Tour gets students excited about research and promotes our summer internship program," said ACCESS codirector Lisa Hunter.

Students interested in the summer research internships had an opportunity to explore some of the laboratories they might want to work in. Several faculty researchers gave presentations describing their research programs, after which the students split into smaller groups for tours of different laboratories.

Some of the visiting students were planning to transfer to UCSC, while others had different plans and some had yet to make a decision, Hunter said.

The researchers who presented summaries of their research programs were Bill Sullivan, professor of biology; Miranda Sanders, a research associate in the lab of Phil Crews, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; and Roberto Bogomolni, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and chair of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program.

June Pounder, a postdoctoral researcher, showed students around the lab of biology professor Barry Bowman; Juan Carlos Noveron, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry, led the tour of chemistry professor Pradip Mascharak's lab; and Jim Loo, analytical instrument manager, gave a tour of the nuclear magnetic resonance lab.

The ACCESS program is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Educational Partnership Center at UCSC. The program, which focuses on disadvantaged and underrepresented students, helps students in community colleges acquire knowledge and skills that will increase their transfer eligibility and academic success.

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