The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was no less profound on the nine INBRE participating undergraduate institution campuses as it was for businesses, social events and families.
Below are updates from steering committee members about the impact the pandemic has had on their campus and the plans for the coming school year.
Ann Buchmann, PhD, Chadron State College
"We were lucky with our INBRE scholars as both of them remained on campus during the spring semester and worked in the lab. One of those students graduated in spring, and we gained a new junior student.
What impacted us greatly in the summer was having two students on our home campus, rather than in Omaha, as we needed to pack and move all materials in the entire science building in preparation for two years of renovations and an addition.
We scurried to find temporary lab space as the space that we will have available in the fall was not yet ready for summer. We now have a lab set up in a cheery little storage room with experiments spilling out into the classroom next door. The storage room will continue to be our main lab for the next two years, so we don't need to move major equipment again, with additional research lab space becoming available by August."
Julie Shaffer, PhD, University of Nebraska at Kearney
"This summer UNK research students were able to transition pretty easily. Students wear masks, gloves, and lab coats in the laboratories and sign up for times to reduce numbers in the labs. Students are not allowed to hang out in the building, which is probably the biggest change for students. Faculty have been especially challenged by the building being closed. All packages are delivered to the central mailroom instead of getting packages directly to Bruner Hall. Unfortunately, this means we have lost perishable items necessary for research.
For fall, UNK has been working toward a plan to have classes on campus. This has significantly impacted the sciences because we have such large lecture classes and laboratories. Faculty will be wearing masks to lecture which can make lecturing difficult, so we are now looking at clear face shields. Students will have to move to larger classrooms like the gymnasium. Setting this up for lecture will be challenging. For laboratory classes, all students will be required to wear masks and goggles. This should allow us to move forward on campus."
Shawn Pearcy, PhD, Wayne State College
"I think as with most institutions, Wayne State College was thrown a bit of a curveball in March when we transitioned to all online courses for the rest of the semester. Wayne State extended the students’ spring break by one week to provide an opportunity for faculty to transition online for the rest of the semester.
Biomedical research was restricted from March through May, as students were not allowed free access to the campus buildings. During this time, our INBRE student was able to conduct a deeper analysis of his existing data and to write up his results to that point, so it still turned out to be a productive period. As with all of NE-INBRE, we also had a couple of statewide Zoom meetings to discuss the virus and our book.
During the summer, classes at Wayne State have been 100 percent online. However, our second year INBRE scholar was able to return to work at UNMC and has been working in Omaha all summer.
In August, the college is planning to resume face-to-face courses and presumably we will be able to resume biomedical research on campus. I think that the challenges we are facing here at Wayne State are similar to those faced by all other campuses, specifically – how to conduct scientific research (involving potentially intimate educational interaction) while following state and federal guidelines to ensure the safety of students and faculty. These are the same challenges we will face in our classrooms and teaching labs as Wayne State tries to resume a "new normal" fall schedule."
Angie Pannier, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
"At UNL, like at many schools, we are limiting the number of individuals on campus, therefore research looks very different. Classes are still online this summer, and most summer research programs for undergraduate students have been canceled or altered to limit the time that students are on campus. However, we have found creative ways to continue to learn (many different webinars or online classes), engage (Zoom lab meetings and social hours), and lots of writing!"
Julie Strauss-Soukup, PhD, Creighton University
"At Creighton we officially shut down our laboratories on April 7 to everyone except "essential personnel." From then until the end of the semester (May 8), research with undergraduate students was done off-campus/virtual. My undergraduate research group switched to reading journal articles in our field (many that we had not had time to read over the last year or so), and we had weekly online lab meetings (using Zoom) to discuss these articles (with students leading the discussions).
What was nice (and never happens during the school year) is that we were able to find a day/time for lab meetings that worked for everyone, so all 14 of us could attend! During this same time frame my senior research students wrote their "research thesis" papers, as they would have had to do in any semester.
With regards to our normal weekly INBRE journal club at Creighton, when we shut down we were just getting ready for students to practice their talks for the Nebraska Academy of Sciences meeting. So the students recorded themselves and posted their videos on our journal club website. Faculty and students then watched these videos each week and sent their comments/feedback to each student.
Creighton reopened our research laboratories on June 15 (for faculty, graduate students and technicians) and then on June 22 (for undergraduate research students). Each faculty member had to request access back on campus and had to detail the students/technicians/etc. that they would like to return to campus. In addition, faculty had to describe how we would practice safe distancing/hygiene in the lab. Each day all of us have to go to a COVID-19 screening station, have our temperature taken and answer a number of questions. Masks are required at all times inside and outside when we are on campus. My students (and I) are SO HAPPY to be back in the lab!"
Brett Schofield, PhD, Doane University
"The science faculty at Doane made the difficult decision to not allow students to conduct research on campus this summer. We felt that if institutions like UNMC, UNL, and Creighton didn't feel that they could keep their scholars safe, neither could we. There are a few faculty, such as myself, who maintain active research programs, but at Doane, the vast majority of our research activity comes from undergraduates, so the pandemic has dramatically slowed the pace of our work.
However, efforts have been taken by individual faculty mentors to remotely engage our scholars in research or research-related activities. For instance, Dr. Erin Doyle's research in computational biology can be partially conducted remotely, and I understand that she has continued her work with Ali Osborn – one of our INBRE Scholars. I have met with my students, including Grace Su – another INBRE Scholar – weekly during the summer over Zoom. We have done journal clubs of relevant papers, planned experiments, and discussed what I have been up to in lab. Unfortunately, the nature of research in my lab makes it impossible to do outside of a laboratory environment.
Doane has announced plans to resume in-person classes in the fall, and we anticipate being able to restart at least limited face-to-face research at that time. All seniors at Doane complete some sort of experiential capstone experience, which for most STEM students is some form of scientific research. Plans are being made for how these capstone experiences (and by extension, the research of our INBRE Scholars) could be conducted in a situation where the institution is forced to return to remote learning.
There is obviously a lot of uncertainty and mental stress during this time for all involved. This very much extends to our students. Those who have spoken to me express both excitement and unease at the prospect of returning to campus. Our INBRE Scholars are incredibly dedicated to their research, and they have all spoken about their worry that a return to remote learning would slow down or stop their work."
Adrianne Prokupek-Pickett, PhD, Nebraska Wesleyan University
"Like most colleges and universities, the impact of Covid-19 on Nebraska Wesleyan University has been profound. Starting in early March, while on our scheduled Spring break, the pandemic reached the midwest and resulted in our classes shifting entirely to remote learning from March 23 through May 7, the end of our spring semester. The entire campus was eventually shut down.
Specifically for INBRE/research students, from the start of the pandemic until now, research has been effectively halted on campus. With the closure of dorms and university summer housing, most students moved back home – many of these students from outside the Omaha/Lincoln area. Following the start of the fall semester, research projects can continue at the discretion of the individual advisors and comfort of the student researcher as long as social distancing can be maintained. A number of our INBRE students worked in labs off campus (such as UNL). They also have remained in contact with their research advisors and worked on activities such as manuscripts/data analysis.
For the fall, the return to campus for students will look quite different than it has in the past. Students will be returning for in-person classes on August 17. All students/staff/faculty will be required at all times to comply with CDC guidelines (including mandatory mask, social distancing, etc.) Our classrooms have been reconfigured to seats which are six-feet apart, which means many of our classrooms will no longer accommodate the full class to attend simultaneously.
Students will be attending class on a schedule designed by their instructor, with the additional class content coming from remote/online learning. Campus activities such as sports, research, student groups will resume, with modifications. At this time no outside groups, visitors, or speakers will be allowed on campus. The schedule for the students has been modified to remove fall break, students will now move off campus during Thanksgiving break and complete the last two weeks of the semester by remote learning."
Paul Davis, PhD, University of Nebraska at Omaha
"At UNO, the INBRE students are hard at work in their research labs, in areas that span bioinformatics, physiology, and infectious diseases (our most popular option!).
These students are obtaining first-hand experiences with topics such as: viral replication inside human cells; parasite biology; drug discovery and development; fungal requirements for growth, and more.
With generally limited access to the campus, UNO has prioritized those performing original research, resulting in most of our scholars being busy in the labs nearly every day.
Some of our recent INBRE graduates, who are now at Harvard for their Ph.D., haven't been so fortunate: Harvard closed many of their research labs as the East Coast battled with relatively high coronavirus infections.
Our scholars are looking forward to getting back into the classroom, to apply what they've picked up in their research experiences with the knowledge that they'll acquire in the more formal approach. Although many lab courses are still offered in-person at UNO, some traditional lecture-based courses have moved online for the Fall semester."
Dunesh Kumari, PhD, College of Saint Mary
"The pandemic has created issues with almost every aspect of our operations, from teaching and student life to research to athletics at College of Saint Mary (CSM). In a very short time, CSM had to move to online-only classes for instruction, lectures were transitioned into Zoom meetings and digital communication, and laboratories were closed. Transitioning STEM classes to online courses was challenging. It was an abrupt and difficult situation to adapt to. However, CSM tried its best to accommodate faculty and students.
As CSM prepares to resume in-person teaching and learning for the Fall semester of 2020, all traditional courses will be delivered in a face to face format, with online enhancements through Canvas. To accomplish this, CSM is taking steps to ensure the safety of our community as we gather together again to learn and grow. Community health precautions to create a safe learning environment include: social distancing, required masks for students, face shields or podium Plexiglass for faculty when teaching, and cleaning of desks and equipment after each class meeting.
With the closure of the laboratories, the research stood on a stand still mode for initial months. One of the expectations in my lab was to work collaboratively and get feedback from other researchers but due to COVID students lost these learning opportunities. However, students focused on reading literature and writing a review on current scientific topics.
Students also were engaged to write a research proposal that included background research, experimental methods, current development in the field and research outcomes and discussions, conclusions, and, wherever possible, plans for further research. For my research group, they returned to lab in the month of July and continued working in August with shortened hours.
As the situation continues to develop and with current resurgence in the cases, CSM is taking an active role in addressing both the immediate and long-term challenges related to the outbreak."