Undergraduate Research

Join us for Lab Crawl 2022

Friday, October 28th from 12:00-1:30pm!

The Oberlin College Lab Crawl is an annual open house that provides a fun and informal interaction with different research labs around campus. 

Lab Crawl 2022

The format of the Lab Crawl is simple: students pick up a list of all participating labs and a passport from a table in the Science Center. They take the passports to various labs and stations around the Science Center, as well as stations in King, Carnegie, Clarence Ward Art Building, Venturi Art Building, Bibbins Hall, and Mudd Center. Students get one sticker from every station they visit, and stations outside the Science Center give out two stickers. A minimum of three stickers is needed to trade in passports for pizza. Every sticker that students get also enters them into a raffle.

  1. Pick up a passport! You'll find them in the Science Center Atrium, Carnegie Geology Lounge, and 3rd Floor King.

  2. Visit labs! There are lab stations in the Science Center, Wright, Carnegie, King.

  3. Get stickers! You'll get one sticker from every station you visit, and stations outside the Science Center give out stickers worth four entries in the raffle.

  4. Get free pizza! A minimum of three stickers is needed to trade in passports for pizza. 

  5. Win a T-shirt! Every round sticker that you get is worth one entry. Every star sticker is worth four entries. The first ten people with ten or more stickers win a T-shirt! Pick them up in the Science Center, room K100

Check out the labs participating in Lab Crawl!

Amy Margaris Lab: King 322

Past, present, and future meet in the Archaeology Lab. Explore where we care for and learn from cultural heritage from Native America and beyond. View archaeological teaching collections, ethnographic items, and materials for DIY stone tools. 

Digital Fabrication Lab: Venturi 062

3D printers, vinyl cutter, inkjet printers.

Reproducible Media Print Lab: Ward Basement, Room 016 

The Reproducible Media Print Lab and student print collective YEO PRESS invite the Oberlin community to visit our lab to learn more about printmaking processes, make some prints, and enjoy some free take-away collaborative artworks. 

TIMARA Studios: Basement of Bibbins

In the TIMARA Studio Complex you will find every resource you need to thoroughly ground yourself in the burgeoning field of music technology. Whether you have a passion for studio recording, analog synths, immersive multichannel sound design, or working with interactive media, our studios provide the tools and the space you need to experiment and grow as a student and artist. With so many incredible resources housed in a single complex, we think the TIMARA Studios have always been one of the best places to study music technology...and now they are even better. Our recently renovated studios now include a makerspace, gallery, gear depot, and a lobby computer cafe. Our wonderful creative community is what makes TIMARA really shine. Our faculty studios surround the lobby, providing students with easy access and frequent contact with all of the TIMARA faculty. See more at here

General Chemistry Lab: Science Center N284

Are you interested in taking a general chemistry course for fun? Will you have to take general chemistry as a prerequisite for your major? Come learn about the labs that you will be taking as a part of the general chemistry curriculum. 

Jason Belitsky Lab: Science Center N386

The Belitsky Lab studies melanins, such as eumelanin, the brown to black pigment in humans, and related synthetic materials.  Potential applications of these materials include water purification agents and colorimetric sensors for lead.

Lisa Ryno Lab: Science Center N282

The Ryno lab utilizes techniques in molecular biology, microbiology, and biochemistry and focuses on exploring new methods to mitigate antibiotic resistance and detect low concentrations of antibiotics. We investigate specific pathways in E. coli bacteria that are involved in stress-responsive signaling and sugar metabolism and study their impact on the formation of biofilm and tolerance to antibiotics. We also investigate these same stress-responsive signaling pathways for their utility as sensors for very low concentrations of antibiotics.

Angie Roles Lab: Science Center A132

The Roles Lab studies population biology and genetics of plants and animals. Our plant research focuses on how the effects of mutations on plant fitness might vary with environment, genotype, or the age of the individual. Our animal research currently investigates the ecology of burrowing crayfishes of North-Central Ohio, studying their population density, above-ground activity, and burrow characteristics. One member of the lab is co-advised by Angie and Laela Sayigh, a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, studying vocal communication of dolphins and whales.

Marta Laskowski Lab: Science Center K110

Our research group aims to uncover the cellular mechanisms that control the life-cycle stages of plant roots. This is broadly similar to studying factors that regulate the transition for infant to toddler or toddler to adolescent in humans.

Taylor Allen Lab: Science Center K200

We will be hosting two stations in this lab: station one is about a medical humanities project investigating ways Japanese Americans found well-being during World War II. Station two is about a physiological project uncovering ways muscle tunes itself to operate efficiently.

Amanda Schmidt Lab: Carnegie 415

The Schmidt lab studies the effects of people on erosion using a variety of geochemical techniques. Current research ranges from the effects of Hurricane Maria on erosion in Dominica and the effects of organic agriculture on erosion in Cuba to rates of infilling of an artificial lagoon in Martha's Vineyard and long-term lake sedimentation in New Hampshire. 

Rachel Eveleth Lab: Carnegie 417

Ocean and Great Lakes research on carbon and climate change

History Design Lab: Science Atrium 

The History Design Lab offers students of any year and major the opportunity to engage in collaborative and creative efforts to excavate stories about the past. Students develop, lead and participate in projects that are advised by faculty and staff. HDL publishes an undergraduate history journal; has ongoing digital projects on Oberlin history and African American Women’s History; and has offered space for student-designed oral history and archival projects.

Gunnar Kwayke Lab: Science Center A245

The G. Kwakye lab uses mammalian cell cultures, cellular, molecular, analytical, and biochemical techniques to investigate the therapeutic effects of novel small molecules in cancer and neurodegeneration. Additionally, we are examining the basis of neurotoxicity and selective loss of cells in neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington, Parkinson, and Multiple System Atrophy.

Leslie Kwayke Lab: Science Center A257

Leslie Kwakye's lab investigates how the brain combines information from the different senses and how cognitive factors such as attention modulate this multisensory integration. We are also interested in how multisensory integration differs across various factors such as musical experience and neurodivergence. We use psychophysics, statistical modeling, electroencephalography, and eye-tracking to answer our research questions.

Tracie Paine Lab: Science Center A242

The Paine lab uses behavioral pharmacological approaches in rodents to understand complex behaviors such as attention, impulsivity, decision-making and timing. In addition, we use immunohistochemistry and Western blots to try to understand the neural mechanisms mediating these behaviors.

Jason Stalnaker Lab : Wright 104

The Stalnaker Lab uses atomic physics tools and techniques to study fundamental physics. We are a part of an international collaboration known as the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers to search for Exotic physics (GNOME) that is looking for dark matter in the form of ultralight particles. We are also working on a Search for Non-Interacting Photons Experiment (SNIPE) that is sensitive to dark photons, another dark matter candidate.

John Scofield Lab: Wright 012

Measurement laboratory

Physics Machine Shop: Wright 004 (basement)

Come and visit the machine shop! See demonstrations of advanced equipment and completed projects that have been made for research needs across campus.

Yumi Ijiri Lab : Wright 017 (basement)

The Ijiri lab studies unusual nanoscale magnetic materials in the form of nanoparticles, thin ribbons, and fluids. These tiny magnets are of interest for biomedical, data storage, waste remediation, and sensor applications.

Stephen FitzGerald Lab: Wright 016 (basement)

The FitzGerald lab does experiments to study quantum effects in hydrogen storage and isotope separation.

Center for Engaged Liberal Arts (CELA): Garden level of Mudd Center (CELA)

Come learn about the wide range of offices in CELA and how they can support your undergraduate and postgraduate research plans. Participating in research can greatly impact your academic and post graduate trajectory. At CELA we can support you to find research opportunities through Winter Term, Study Abroad, Fellowships & Awards, and many more. 

Center for Learning, Education, and Research in the Sciences (CLEAR): Science Center Atrium

The Center for learning, equity, access, and resources (CLEAR) in STEM is a proud part of the network of programming available to support student success through academic support and community building. Drop by to learn about the available extra support for science and math classes and how to become a CLEAR mentor! We'll also have information about Roots in STEM programming to support marginalized students in STEM. You can also learn more about a contest to win prizes by the end of the semester!

Mudd Library Learning Lab: Mudd Center 113

RefWorks can keep your research life on track!  Learn how to use this online tool to gather citations for articles, books, etc., store and annotate PDFs, generate citations and bibliographies, and much more.  Get started on building your personal database of research resources. 

Safety Committee Forrest Rose, Cindi Manning, and Claudia Ferrini: Science Center Atrium

Safety is important for science labs and classrooms. Stop by to learn about PPE, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, gloves, goggles, and more!  Pick up ear plugs, bike reflectors, and handouts.

Science Library: Study Room N175

Keep up with what's new in science and track the impact of research, with reputable and amazing sources including Science.org from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and cited reference searching in Web of Science, SciFinder, and PubMed.  Never lack for fascinating reading!

Student Major’s Committees: Science Center Atrium

Come learn from students about engaging in research in specific fields, how to get involved, and more!