Day1 Research Communities

As part of Day1 you can:

• Investigate water quality and help the local community address issues
• Design a product to meet the needs of the community
• Learn professional geology skills while exploring Northern Michigan
• Discover a new virus and investigate its genome
• Study environmental issues in the Great Lakes region
• Live with other Day1 students in the newly renovated Lichty Hall during your first year

Each Day1 course program explores unique questions using science, mathematics and engineering techniques. The Day1 programs are part of your first-year academic coursework — each program will count towards your graduation requirements. Day1 offers an inclusive community that encourages collaboration and fosters genuine friendships among a diverse group of students. Become part of the program that best fits your interests today!

Why Day1?

• Work with passionate and engaging faculty mentors
• Collaborate with upper-level students and peers
• Make a difference solving real-world problems
• Prepare for exciting careers in science, engineering and mathematics

Find the Day1 program that’s right for you

Phage Discovery

Discover the hidden world around you. Join your classmates and other student-scientists from schools all across the U.S. and beyond in a hunt for phages — viruses that infect bacteria. Day1: Phage Discovery allows you to isolate, characterize and name your newly discovered phage in a process of exploration that culminates with the opportunity to sequence the DNA of your phage and explore its genome. All discoveries are shared in public databases used by researchers across the world as part of a nationally recognized research program.

Faculty Mentors

Dr. Joseph Stukey and Dr. Aaron Best

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Design

Student engineers tackle a design challenge posed by a customer from the local community. Team up with other first-year engineering students to explore the challenge, develop possible technological solutions and present prototypes to your customer. Join a dynamic community of peers and mentors while doing engineering in a real-world context.

Faculty Mentors

Dr. John Krupczak and Ms. Susan Ipri Brown

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Michigan Rocks

Travel to northern Michigan in this immersion experience before classes begin! Join upper-level mentors to explore rock formations that record events from throughout Michigan’s geological history. Study ancient volcanoes and mineral deposits, fossil-rich inland seas, glaciers and modern geological processes as you build the skills to be a professional geologist or environmental scientist.

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Ed Hansen

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Watershed

What is the impact of human activity on our local rivers and lakes? Day1: Watershed will engage you in the efforts of our local community to improve the water quality in the greater Holland area and the Great Lakes. Before classes begin, immerse yourself in this environmental science research project alongside students and faculty with trips to the field for sample collection and time in the lab learning how to process those samples.

Faculty Mentors

Dr. Aaron Best and Dr. Brent Krueger

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Great Lakes

Dunes, invasive species and statistics! Jump into this field study with your research team and faculty mentors to investigate a threatened native species. Throughout the semester, you will explore important issues affecting the Great Lakes in ecological, political and moral contexts while learning practical statistical methodology.

Faculty Mentors

Dr. Paul Pearson, Dr. Yew Meng Koh and Dr. Brian Yurk

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