Course-based undergraduate research at OSU is transforming science education

Launched in Fall 2021, the BI22x CUREs have become a core part of the department. Each course connects students directly with a faculty member on campus and students conduct original research related to that faculty member's expertise. Unlike other national CURE programs, such as Tiny Earth, which use externally developed projects, OSU’s CUREs relate directly to research done here.

The CUREs are carefully aligned with each course’s learning objectives. In BI221, students study molecular biology by researching nematodes under the guidance of Dee Denver. In BI222, the focus is on physiology, where students explore coral-algal relationships with Nate Kirk and Virginia Weis. Finally, in BI223, students engage in citizen science related to ecology with Lori Kayes.

“We’re scaffolding our students into OSU’s research. They are part of OSU’s research mission and that is what I think is so exciting about what we are doing,” Kayes said.

As students progress through the BI22x series, their research experiences build upon one another. In BI223, students take on even more advanced projects that require working with long-term ecological datasets, further preparing them for independent research experiences beyond the classroom.

From slugs to sea anemones

For the first course, Kayes and Harjoe were inspired by Dee Denver’s research. His research team studies evolutionary and population-genomic questions in nematodes — tiny worms turned into a biotool to control invasive pests such as slugs. Nematodes are parasitic to slugs, entering their bodies and reproducing, eventually killing them.

Although the commercial version, called Nemaslug, is legal in other countries like the United Kingdom, it is not sold in the U.S. However, there is minimal evidence that it has already arrived in the U.S. through produce transferal.

Students in BI221 collected local slugs, extracted nematodes and determined if the Nemaslug species was present.

“The CURE was uniquely situated because we have a ton of students in the fall. We had 1,300 students who are interested in getting research experience. And that is a lot more than any Denver lab graduate student could really collect,” Harjoe said.

Although the students have varied success, typical for undergraduate research, they were able to provide the Denver lab with nearly 200 samples and identified the Nemaslug species a couple of times.

“This is super exciting. We are figuring out something that the Denver lab didn’t have an answer to. I don’t even know what the outcome will be each time we do the course and that is awesome,” Harjoe said.

The second course, BI222, focuses on physiology. Students work with faculty members Virginia Weis and Nate Kirk to investigate coral-algal relationships. Aiptasia, a temperate and tropical sea anemones, serves as a model organism for studying symbiotic relationships. It forms a mutualistic partnership with zooxanthellae, tiny algal cells living inside its tissues and providing energy through photosynthesis. In turn, the zooxanthellae use the Aiptasia’s nitrogenous waste to build essential proteins.

Weis and Kirk are exploring when and why this symbiotic relationship shifts from mutualistic to parasitic. Fortunately, Aiptasia are ideal for laboratory studies because they reproduce clonally, creating genetically identical offspring — ideal for controlled studies.

“It’s the equivalent of you going out to dinner and leaving behind a toenail. It won’t hurt and you don’t really care what happens to it. In the case of Aiptasia, that toenail would grow into a new person,” Kirk said.

Rather than waiting for natural reproduction, researchers can accelerate the process by making a precise cut with a razor blade, generating a new clone. Remarkably, this process appears to reset developmental pathways, meaning the newly formed anemone starts life as a juvenile and must undergo development all over again. This unique trait provides a valuable opportunity to study how early-stage Aiptasia interact with their symbiotic algae and how the relationship can turn harmful under certain conditions.

"CUREs lower the barrier for opportunities."

There are numerous benefits for the researchers participating in CUREs, Kirk said.

“Two mentored undergraduate researchers would have the capacity to create maybe 60 new clones whereas the sample size across all of BI222 was 888. It would be infeasible to reach that number with our normal number of lab members,” he said.

By subjecting Aiptasia to varying light conditions, CURE students tested whether darkness could prevent the algae from becoming parasitic. The hypothesis was that without photosynthesis, the algae’s energy demands would decrease, reducing their need to take nitrogen from the anemone.

“We are still analyzing the data but there is a visible trend where we seem to rescue some of the Aiptasia. It wasn’t significant but there was a difference in the size between the ones the students put in the dark versus not,” Kirk said.

Opening doors for the future

Beyond contributing valuable research data, Kirk noted that CUREs also prepare students for future opportunities.

“Right after the term ends, I get a large number of requests to work in my lab. These students are trained and have a little insight into the research question so I can take more students than I typically could before,” Kirk said.

Thandiwe Venema actually leveraged her experience during the first CURE course, BI221, to become a member of Kirk’s lab.

“When I was cold emailing him, the work with nematodes made me feel like I had experience to go off of,” Venema said.

Even students who chose not to work with a CURE faculty member enjoy professional benefits from the course.

“We’re showing them how to do tasks in the lab and use statistical software and other skills that they can then put on their CVs and resumes and when they approach other faculty, it lowers the barrier for opportunities,” Kirk said.

The College of Science’s commitment to integrating course-based undergraduate research experiences into the curriculum is transforming how students engage with science at Oregon State. Through the BI22x series, students don’t just learn about scientific discovery — they participate in it.

These innovative CUREs open doors to research for a broader, more diverse group of students, helping them build confidence, sharpen their skills and find their place within the scientific community. By embedding meaningful, faculty-connected research into large, introductory courses, the College is not only enriching undergraduate education — it’s redefining what’s possible.