Being an undergraduate is tough enough, and an added challenge is trying to gain research experience. Most colleges give you only a brief introduction to research, but where are you going to obtain in-depth research?

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If you thought studying science meant sparkling labs and stainless steel -- think Mr. Clean in a blinding white lab coat -- fuhgeddabout it. 

At America's Lutheran colleges and universities, you'll learn about biology, chemistry, geology, physics by getting your hands dirty and exploring, right along with your professors.

Take geosciences at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, for example, and Professor Duncan Foley might just hand you a shovel.

With funding from the Keck Foundation, Foley and his students are drilling resource protection wells to study soil samples and the flow of local groundwater. “Understanding the connection between creeks and groundwater is fundamental geological information that can be used, for instance, to help in salmon recovery,” Foley explains. And data from soil sediments in the wells will be interpreted and incorporated into regional geological mapping by University of Washington researchers.

Students at Lutheran colleges are sometimes surprised to find that even their introductory classes are small. Joe Thatcher, a student in Professor Tom Carlson’s freshman bio lab at PLU, was amazed at how accessible his professors are, and how easy it is to learn in a lab of only 15 students.

“I was surprised to be in a lab with no graduate teaching assistants. All of the labs and discussion sections in intro biology are taught by professors. It sure makes it easier to be successful in class,” he notes. 

“When people buy into working at a place like PLU,” says Carlson, “they are making a commitment to undergraduate teaching.”