Understanding the Research Process

Introduction to Research (BIOL 3980) – Winter 2025
In this course I learned the basics of what research is and how the research process works. Primarily, I learned about how to write a research proposal, ask excellent research questions, generate hypotheses and develop procedures. We also spent time understanding how to make effective posters (I.e. engaging poster layout) once our research has been conducted and results analyzed.

UREAP Application – Winter 2025
The UREAP application process required me to take what I learned from Introduction to Research and develop a strong project proposal for a large scale project. In this UREAP application I outline the 2025 summer research I planned on doing with Dr. Matt Reudink (Primary Supervisor) and Dr. Emily Studd (Secondary Supervisor). My research would focus on understanding how to use mini Motus (an international research network that uses telemetry to track animals (primarily birds)) tower’s to track movement patterns of mountain chickadees on a regional scale in Kamloops, BC.

• I expected to do research on what was outlined in my UREAP application; however, due to unforeseen circumstances, we could not acquire the mini Motus tower’s in time for the project.
• Ultimately, I had to be adaptable and was able to shift to a new project focusing on analyzing stress in mountain chickadee nestlings.

Honours Project Proposal (BIOL 4980) – Spring 2025
Because things did not go as planned with my initial UREAP project, I had to be flexible and come up with another project idea. For my honours project proposal, I shifted from a research project focused on tracking mountain chickadees, to one focused on the stress levels of mountain chickadee nestlings across Kamloops, BC. In this proposal I discuss the current techniques used to measure stress in birds and explain the methods I will use for my project.

Honours Introduction Presentation (BIOL 4980) – Fall 2025
Outlining my Honours project to classmates in BIOL 4980 (Honours Seminar) taught me that part of the research process is not only conducting research and analyzing results, but also explaining what your research is to others in ways they can understand. When you get down to the nuts and bolts, research is complex, so being able to keep things easy to understand while making people interested in the work I was doing was a huge step in my learning.

Honours Project Timeline Gantt Chart (BIOL 4980) – Fall 2025
I created a timeline for my Honours research to ensure I stay on top of things and maintain consistency with the work I am completing. I learned that an important aspect of research is both planing what you are going to do and, importantly, when you are going to do it.