Student research opps growing Pollinator garden project gives Langara students hands-on experience By CORVIN VASKI tudents who get a chance to do research in their under- graduate years have a good chance of moving on to post- graduate scholarship. Brad Wuetherick, the associ- ate provost of academic programs in teaching and learning at UBC Okanagan, has studied the effects of research experiences on students. “It really supports students’ iden- tity development as they move into a particular field,” Wuetherick said. Weetherick said research experi- ence gives students the chance to do hands-on work and use classroom knowledge in practical scenarios. Many students who have done undergraduate research go on to graduate studies. “There is a very direct correlation between students who have under- graduate research experiences and their journey into advanced study ... The idea that these experiences kind of encourage people to dive deeper and continue into further study is well-documented,” Wuetherick said. When Aldona Czajewska became a volunteer program coordinator at Langara College in 2021, she noticed students were increasingly looking for research opportunities. But the pandemic made those opportunities hard to find. She looked for a way to combine volun- teer positions with research. Czajewska, who has a background in applied biology research, received a grant with the help of the biology department for a pollinator garden research project at Langara. The project has created four paid posi- tions for students and incorporates multiple volunteer opportunities. “It’s just a great opportunity, not just for science students, but literally anyone, anyone can volunteer for this project if they want to and help out, _— 2 Jennifer Lin, a second-year biol- ogy student working on the pollina- tor project, said she is happy to be and I feel that part of the polli- really fills the “Having this sort of nator research gap,” she said. . . . project. She The proj- experience will give hopes to someday ect is conduct- " ursue 4 Career in ing a survey of me an edge. rience research. campus pollina- — JENNIFER LIN, BIOLOGY STUDENT “Having this tors such as bees, hummingbirds and butterflies, to get a better understanding of how to promote on-campus pollinator diversity and plant new gardens. sort of experience will give me an edge, and I’m glad I was able to have that this early in my education career,” Lin said. Czajewska’s co-researcher and Langara biology instructor Ji Yong Yang said that research experience gives students an advantage over those without experience when applying for jobs. “It essentially gives them training, gives them skills and hopefully they could use this training and skills to find jobs in the future,” Yang said. Kelly Sveinson, director of the applied research centre at Langara, said the college has received substan- tially more funding for research which is critical in different fields . “We really are trying to encourage mi Jennifer Lin, second-year biology student at Langara College, shows off the variety of plants in the greenhouse on top of A Building at Langara. corvin vAsK/ PHOTO a wide variety of types of research, diversity is really important to us, and it’s really important that all the disciplines are welcome into this area of applied research,” Sveinson said. Over $5 million in research grants has been awarded to Langara faculty in the past five years, according to the applied research centre. “We have to teach the young people what we understand now, but young people also have to push that boundary and have to be part of the creation of new knowledge,” Sveinson said. As mask mandate lifts, anxieties Psychologists discuss effects of unmasking ByJUAN RAMIREZ hree weeks after the provin- cial health officer removed the indoor mask order, the Langara College community is still anxiously debating whether or not to continue wearing a mask. Julianne Beadle, a psychology professor at Langara, said there will no doubt be some uncertainty among students and staff. “Especially because we've been wearing masks most of the time for the last two years,” Beadle said. “So, I think some people may experi- ence some relief, other people may be experiencing a bit of nervousness or anxiety.” She said the stress associated with mask removal can affect a person's memory and ability to learn. Beadle said most of her students are still wearing masks even though it is not mandatory. “So I think that’s interesting,” she said. “Because we know that subjec- tive norms, so what other people are doing, who we kind of look to, can influence our own behaviour.” After moving to online learning for a year, Langara resumed face- to-face courses last fall, but masks were mandatory until March 11.A week before the mask mandate was lifted, Langara made rapid antigen tests available for all members of the Langara community. Langara has 22,000 students enrolled annually, coming from 100 countries. Elena Nicoladis, a psychology professor from the University of British Columbia, said masks have shielded people from contracting the COVID-19 virus. “Masks have been very protec- tive and have been very effective in protecting us against the wider spread of the disease. And there’s clear research backing that up,” Nicoladis said. “If people are at all nervous about taking masks off and seeing each other in person and thinking that the rates of contagion might increase, I think there’s a grain of truth to that.” David Shmil, a bioinformatics student at Langara, said he is accus- tomed to people wearing masks, so now he is anxious about studying at the campus. “Personally, I still feel a bit on edge when I see somebody walking down Masked and unmasked students study together in T building at Langara College. sua ramirez PHOTO arise the hall without a mask,” Shmil said. “T think that’s probably because I’m so used to seeing a mask, and I’m still a bit scared of everything.” While some people are wary of removing their face coverings, others are ready to shed their masks in public settings. Amy Flanigan, an early childhood education professor at Langara, said she supports the government in regards to the decision to lift the mask mandate. “T trust the leaders. I trust them to make the right decisions for us, they’ve done the best that they could with all the knowledge that was coming at them in all different direc- tions, up until this point,” Flanigan said. “I don’t think it was too early.” Anthony Virdo, a student engage- ment officer, said masks provide a sense of protection and coverage, so it might take time for some people to acclimatize. For him, he found he got more comfortable not wearing a mask in certain spaces around the campus after the first day. “But I noticed that I still wear a mask, I still keep a mask on me,” Virdo said. “So, I think it'll be grad- ual, and that some people will be more comfortable in maybe a month or two months. “And there may be some people six months or a year from now still more comfortable wearing a mask.”