Collaborative scholarship between undergraduate students and faculty is a major emphasis at Roger Williams. Recently, biology/chemistry double majors Alicia Shepard and Francis Pierciey joined Professor Marcie Marston for a labor-intensive experiment. “The aim of the experiment was to show that coevolution is possible between marine viruses and their hosts,” Professor Marston says.
 
The results? Just as predicted. “We have shown that coevolution does occur and that it likely plays an important role in maintaining high levels of genetic diversity in the marine environment,” Professor Marston continues. 

Professor Marston’s work on the project began in 1999, but the 18 months she spent with Alicia and Francis were a high point. “It’s great to be able to share with them the excitement of doing research,” she says. “It would have not been possible for me to do the coevolution project without the help of these two students.”

The students agree: “Working with Marcie has been fantastic,” Alicia says. “She has really inspired me to become involved with research, and she has helped me in focusing my education.”

Professor Marston serves as the students’ mentor and research advisor, and they in turn help design and carry out the experiments. They're also responsible for maintaining the 400-plus cultures of cyanobacteria and help analyze the results. “We have great discussions and debates about how to interpret the data,” Professor Marston says. “We really work together on the project.”

Both students had the chance to present their work at the 2006 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Hawaii. “Consulting other researchers in our field has given us insight into solving some difficult questions that we may have not been able to answer on our own,” Francis says.

And beyond a valuable student experience, the collaborative effort has pointed them in a potential career direction: Both students aspire to become virologists one day.