By Blake Jackson
Mike Campbell oversees a 40-acre research vineyard, known as a lab for studying Concord and Niagara grapes, where biologists and viticulturists grow, test, and sometimes intentionally stress the vines.
The Lake Erie Regional Grape Research and Extension Center, a joint initiative of Penn State and Cornell University, supports more than 580 farms across Pennsylvania and New York.
As the center’s director and a distinguished professor of biology at Penn State Behrend, Campbell frequently supervises student research within the vineyard. This past summer, student projects focused on studying the vineyard’s soil fungal biome.
Elise Kelly, a sophomore from Wattsburg, collected soil samples from various areas, both beneath and between the vines. Kelly then isolated and sequenced DNA to identify the fungi present in the soil.
Campbell noted the value of hands-on research experience for undergraduates. “In a classroom, many things are canned and very set up,” Campbell said. “But in research, things change. Things happen that are unexpected. That gives students a chance to apply the learning they got in the classroom to the scientific community. They see how their findings fit into other science that has been done.”
Photo Credit: istock-jhvephoto
Categories: Pennsylvania, Education