Feeding one group of rats regular rat chow and the other mashed up bits of potato chips and peanut butter, is how College of DuPage Michael Giurini and Gareth Chavez spent their summers.

Giurini of Naperville, and Chavez of Darien concluded this  summer-long chemistry research internship at Hope College in Michigan. At Hope College, Giurini and Chavez worked on a project called “The effects of junk food on the biochemistry of the prefrontal cortex in the rat brain.” In science terms, they tracked the amounts of dopamine and norepinephrine triggered by the junk food. The chemicals are neurotransmitters in the brain. Dopamine has been linked to drug addiction, and norepinephrine has a stimulating effect on blood pressure. Their analysis involved tracking the amounts of these chemicals, High Pressure Liquid Chromatogram (HPLC) and electrochemistry.

This internship opportunity was made possible through the Resource for Excellence Grant program, a grant intended to contribute to the improvement of instruction. The  COD Foundation sponsors the program.

They were selected based on their strong academic standing and excellent laboratory skills exhibited during their chemistry classes. After a selection process that started with the nomination of five students, three received the opportunity to apply to a maximum of four research opportunities at Hope College. Hope College later reached an agreement with Roby William, assistant professor of Chemistry, who secured the grant from the COD Foundation to select two COD students.

“This experience gave me practical time in the lab and insight into research experience,” said Giurini. “What I learned was that a researcher has to be very precise and document everything, which I expected. The other thing I learned, which I did not expect, was just how slow the research process was. Because we had to be so rigorous with our documentation of every step, we had to move at a snail’s pace and make sure that every conclusion we came to was correct.”

As a result of this experience, Giurini and Chavez became expert HPLC technicians. Giurini is now considering research and development as a career path.

“The students really enjoyed the actual lab work, and they learned a lot about the differences between what is done in a college class laboratory, versus what happens in a research lab,” said William. “Hope College provided them with lots of opportunity to socialize and interact with about 75 students who were all doing summer internships.  At the end of the 10 weeks the students, together, presented a poster about their research and their results in a symposium for summer researchers.”

COD’s new president, Ann Rondeau, wants students to take advantage of internship and research opportunities available to them like this one. In her assertion, students aren’t fully taking advantage of these opportunities all because they do not know enough about opportunities available to them.

“There are internships and opportunities here for every kind on student.” said Rondeau. “COD students should largely think higher and more about themselves than they do. Because there are grants, scholarships, and internships that students aren’t taking advantage of.”

COD offers internship opportunities as part of a core requirement for students enrolled in degree programs. Career Services also offers a variety of resources to help students with resume review, updated internship opportunities via College Central, and partners with organizations and firms around DuPage County by hosting recruitment drives nearly every week on campus. These are just few of the many ways students at COD can enhance their involvement with campus related activities.