Research

Whether in a biotechnology lab or the child development lab, learn to use the tools to collect and analyze data that answers key questions in your field of study. Gather, organize, and study information for a faculty member’s grant-funded research. In some departments, paid positions are available.

You might:

Use census data to determine market demand for products.
Study immune responses in virus-infected cells.
Alter the genetic makeup of rice to increase its nutritional value.
Collect and analyze feed samples in beef, dairy, and sheep nutrition laboratories.
Explore how technological advances in machine vision can increase efficiencies in agricultural engineering.
Observe meal times at a child care center for a study on feeding young children in group settings.
Manipulate bacteria to produce large quantities of a medicine.
Evaluate the results of a food safety education program.
Investigate crops for use as biofuels; investigate how management strategies affect output results.
Help with growing new varieties of wheat, mustard, canola, and beans.
Administer surveys for a study on how single parents balance work and family.
Develop potting mixes containing cattle biosolids.
Study how the composition of microbes in the human intestine influences a person’s susceptibility to disease.
Develop and evaluate lesson plans to teach middle-school students about navigating media messages.
Analyze the hormone composition of blood in the bovine or equine reproductive physiology labs.
Document the historical significance of cultural customs.
Study how geographic information and global positioning improve agricultural production.

CALS grant-funded research programs include:

Agrability Project: Explore ways to assist people with disabilities employed in production agriculture.

Biodiesel Education Grant: Take part in one of many alternative-fuels research projects. Analyze how the Washington state ferries are using biodiesel for their fleets. Identify and solve the potential barriers to the growth of the biodiesel industry and educate the public about the environmental benefits of biodiesel use.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Help build a national database on the human health effects of nanoparticles like those used in deodorant and clothing.

Center for Hazardous Waste Remediation Research: Conduct research on the cleanup of contaminated soils, surface waters, and groundwater throughout the United States. Specific aims are to characterize contaminated sites, develop novel technologies for hazardous waste remediation, and apply them in the field. Analyze how microbes break apart hazardous compounds in soil and water.

Department of Energy: Discover why biodiesel causes less engine wear than regular diesel.

Environmental Biotechnology Institute: Help with environmental research both on campus and regionally in the areas of microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and environmental and biomedical biotechnology.

Idaho National Laboratory: Examine how human cells react to different types of radioactive material.

Idaho Water Resources Research Institute: Participate in one the projects funded by the $2,000,000 awarded annually in statewide and regional multidisciplinary research projects.

National Center for Advanced Transportation Technology: Help develop engineering solutions (knowledge and technology) to transportation problems for the state of Idaho, the Pacific Northwest, and the United States.

National Science Foundation: Design and test a sensor that measures blood flow in the human body. Optimize bacteria to excrete cement-like compounds to make soil stronger, or collect data on the heat and water vapor created by a forest to make predictions about climate change.

U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation Grant: Help field test a new type of irrigation system.

USDA Research Grant: Design a probe that uses UV light to detect the amount of biodiesel in a blend.

Waters of the West Program: Work with policymakers and land managers to solve real-world water problems from pollution to drought.