It’s a typical afternoon inside the third-floor biology lab of the Dana Mohler-Faria Science and Mathematics Center. Dr. Joseph Seggio, assistant professor of biology, is working closely with two student researchers, looking for answers in blood samples and testing various hypotheses.
On this day they are measuring the effects of alcohol and a high-fat diet on the leptin levels of laboratory mice. Leptin relates directly to the sensations of hunger and fullness; too much or too little results in weight changes that may help explain similar sensations in humans.
As a mentor, Dr. Joseph Seggio, juggles several research projects at any given time just like this one. Which is great news for his students, who not only get to work on these various experiments, but also share in the publishing of the results.
It’s this work that extends the traditional classroom that is most meaningful to today’s students, Dr. Seggio said. “The research experience of starting a project and seeing it through to completion and then presenting a paper, that’s what will benefit students the most,” he said.
Each semester Dr. Seggio works with five or six students, who have committed to at least three semesters of lab research. They have their pick of several projects operating in the lab simultaneously, all in the area of behavioral neuroscience, Dr. Seggio’s chief area of interest. Particularly, his work centers on circadian disruption, or things that upset regular sleeping patterns.
“Anytime you mess up that clock it’s going to mess up your system,” he said.
The topics he is currently working on with his students and/or recently published on include the effects of jet lag on Type II diabetics and the effects of drinking alcohol on blood glucose levels.
“I try to produce projects that address important questions,” he said.
Professor Seggio believes that student success is borne in the classroom and lab, but augmented by the higher-level opportunities faculty members give them – the kinds of things typically reserved for graduate students and above. He often allows his students to design, coordinate and manage their own research projects, and when the results arrive, the students travel to conferences to present their findings. Often they also see their work published in peer-reviewed journals. (Story by John Winters, University News & Media; photo by Karen Callan, Publications)
