Internships and Research
Melissa Oxley took to the field last summer and paired up with researchers at the University of Central Florida to study loggerhead sea turtles at the Archie Carr Wildlife Refuge in Melbourne Beach, Florida. Geotextile tubes were installed on Melbourne Beach after the 2004 hurricane season to help prevent further beach erosion, and Melissa examined the effects of these tubes on loggerhead nesting success. This work is important because loggerheads are a threatened species and their numbers continue to decline. Melissa's findings were presented by Central Florida researchers last February at the Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.
The Department of Life and Earth Sciences encourages research among its majors. The department faculty holds active
research programs in freshwater ecology, molecular/cellular biology, plant science, and paleontology.
Each year students complete projects under the direction of the faculty and these projects count as independent
studies, Distinction Projects, or Honor's Thesis. Student research
is usually presented at the Annual Meeting of The Ohio Science Academy.
We also encourage all majors to complete an internship prior to graduation. The following is a list of a few of the many places at
which recent Otterbein students have done internships.
- The Ohio Wildlife Center
- Medical University of South Carolina
- Ohio Environmental Council
- Community Family Health Care
- EPSYS Corporation
- Franklin County Metro Parks
- U.S. Forestry Service
- Cryan Veterinary Hospital
- Lambda Bioremediation Systems, Inc.
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources
- The Nature Conservancy
- Dr. Michael J. Weber, Optometrist
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Dr. Haroon Aziz, Plastic Surgeon
- Caremark Physical Therapy
- Battelle Memorial Institute
- Grant Hospital - Sports Med
- Annehurst Veterinary Hospital
- Scripps Research Institute
- Dr. Jeffrey P. Yoest, Dentist
- Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
- Columbus Zoo
- Doctors Hospital North
- Dr. John Worley, Dentist
- The James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute
- Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
Senior Research
Symposium Abstracts