When you think of a college education, you probably envision rows of students in a classroom, taking notes as they soak up teachings from the professor. While classroom learning is integral to an undergraduate education, many students in the College of Agricultural Sciences are moving beyond the classroom, taking advantage of opportunities to perform research. By offering students hands-on research experience in fields, greenhouses, and laboratories across campus, the college is helping to train the next generation of scientists and problem solvers.

As Pennsylvania’s land-grant university, Penn State was established to provide students with access to knowledge gained through research. “Penn State is a research-intensive university, and research is an important part of what we do in the college,” says Bruce McPheron, associate dean for research and graduate education. “We put research in the context of the university experience. Each semester, I visit freshman seminars and talk to students about research in the college. One of the messages I take to them is, ‘Even if you don’t see yourself as a researcher or going to grad school, think about getting involved in research while you’re an undergraduate.’ Research gives students lots of real-world connections that will prepare them for whatever career they intend to pursue.”

Those real-world connections can include practical knowledge and communications skills. Through research, students work with professors, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and laboratory technicians. They learn what’s needed to get financial support for research. They are exposed to “research protection rules”—issues such as how to handle laboratory chemicals, how to care for animals in a research setting, and how to protect confidentiality in social-science research. Many students have the opportunity to be co-authors of published papers.

“Class work at a university doesn’t always do a good job at connecting the dots,” McPheron says. “A student might wonder, ‘Why did I take psychology and chemistry and soil science?’ In a research setting, students begin to put two and two together, and they learn how science works. They gain invaluable experience that can help them land rewarding jobs and opportunities to put their knowledge to work to benefit society.”

Here, meet four seniors whose undergraduate research has prepared them well for the next step in their journey beyond college.