Kent students have had many research opportunities in the past, but this coming March break, a new and exciting trip will happen at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, a laboratory associated with the University of Chicago. All students are welcome to apply to attend this trip, on which they can apply their scientific knowledge to actual hands-on practice. 

“The hope for this trip is to get about six to twelve Kent students to participate in this exploratory learning experience,” states Mr. Klingebiel, head of the Kent School Science Department.

This week long program will include exploration of the local marine ecosystem at Woods Hole; students will work to identify species, capture images of these species, gain experience with technology that influences gene-editing, and much more. Students will be able to translate practical knowledge, like learning about ecology and animal behaviors, to real-life practice, such as working with live cuttlefish to predict how they will camouflage. 

Mr. Klingbiel further emphasizes the impact of Woods Hole, a primarily research oriented lab, opening up their doors to lucky high school students. They’ll be able “to work in the labs, get exposed to research, and do some small scale research to see what types of things scientists are doing,” he explains. According to Mr. Klingebiel, students can hope to gain experience with hands-on research in a level of complexity that high school labs often cannot reach in a classroom setting. 

“To see what is out there can pretty much be an eye-opener. You read journals and you don’t really have a sense of what is going in, but you can go out to a research institution and see the physical structures, how to sample in the ocean, and to learn what sorts of equipment we are talking about.” 

This wonderful trip will be available to all students at an estimated cost of 2500 dollars, and students should keep an eye out for the application that will become available later in the year.