Travis Stewart, a first-year medical engineering student, always wanted to research medicine.
He’s one of only 10 students involved in the Magellan Explorers living community, a group focused on cutting-edge research and improving interaction with students and faculty.
“This community is an opportunity for students to research and answer some of their questions about the world,” said Julie Morris, program director for the Office of Undergraduate Research. “It doesn’t have to be just science though.”
This community of only first- and second-year students is in the Honors Residence Hall and researches all sorts of subjects. Some of the studies being done by students include work on emotions in animals, breast cancer and engineering.
Julie Lanier, a second-year pre-international business student, said she didn’t know about the community until she became a Magellan scholar.
“I didn’t have any idea about this learning community until I started researching my project of the impact of women on tourism market in the Andean counties,” Lanier said. “I wish I had known because it would have been helpful.”
In order to start the research, students are required to take an additional one-credit course that focuses on helping students find out what they want to research.
The Magellan Explorers also take field trips to many places including research labs and the observatory as well as musical and theater events.
Students in the Magellan Explorers living community have an extra opportunities for service learning, study abroad and research grants and scholarships, community leaders say.
“If students want to explore opportunities and want to get targeted into the system right away, this is the right way to do it. We also have a support system that helps students in their projects,” Morris said.
The faculty members involved with the students and their research projects give students advice and try to guide them.
“The professors here really want to help you and they care about your personal success,” Stewart said. “Jay Potts, my professor helping me in my research, has helped me so much and I have learned a lot from him.”
Like other living communities, this community does require a separate application.
“Students should have the curiosity for exploring and want to be an individual,” Morris said.
Even though the Magellan Explorers living community is a small community, it allows students to really support and get to know one another.
“The students in this community are really cool to talk to,” Stewart said. “We all want to communicate our ideas and passions.”
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