Summer research and internship opportunities across the University of Idaho is limited but not halted as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect Idaho.
UI College of Graduate Studies Dean Jerry McMurtry saidmuch of the research in the spring and summer was slowed down or shut down, depending on the type. As of June 15, the day faculty and staff returned to campus, a lot of in-person research was able to continue.
Most students conducting research this summer are graduate or international students, McMurty said.All current COVID-19 guidelines put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Idaho and UI are being enforced among researchers. This includes social distancing, the use of face coverings and gloves and taking additional sanitary steps during research.
Mark McGuire, the associate dean of research at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said no undergraduate CALS students did research in the spring and very few are doin research this summer.
There has been significant activity in labs, fields, farms and other research areas among those available for in-person work, however.
“(The undergraduates) were mostly missing or unavailable due to going home. Graduate and international students were able to still research,” McGuire said. “Some did field work for getting plots of crops in Idaho.”
As undergraduates return for the fall semester, McGuire expects they will join graduate students in their research.
College of Engineering Dean Larry Stauffer said many engineering graduate students had to find ways to continue their research off campus after campus was shut down this spring. According to Stauffer, the College of Engineering has the highest percentage of international students at UI. International students unable to return home due to COVID-19-related travel bans were able to continue their work after protocols were implemented.
Personal protective equipment is provided to those participating in on campus research.
Based on submitted plans, only a few people are allowed in each room at a time and faculty accompany students as they do research. For certain types of projects, faculty need to give permission for students to continue.
Stauffer said in the cases where research required people to be closer together, researchers wore face shields manufactured at UI.
“We don’t have all the supplies that we need right now, so we are making things ourselves until commercially available supplies come in,” Stauffer said.
Research being done by faculty at the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) has been affected by the pandemic as well.
Dean Sean Quinlan said the main thing affecting research in CLASS is the inability for faculty to travel for national and international projects.
“Canceled or rescheduled conferences have been very disruptive for faculty,” Quinlan said. “Anthropology, for example, has been working in labs and they are focused on safety in the labs. Across the arts and social sciences, I think people have experienced a fair amount of disruption.”
Many internships for the summer were cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19.
Barbara Petty, CALS Extension director, said many offices were not functioning at full capacity, so internships which are usually available were cancelled.
Vandal Brand Meats operates mostly through student labor, so after students were sent home, the packaging plant experienced a backlog.
VBM shut down for about three weeks during the beginning of the pandemic, but it now operates with curbside pickup.
Matthew Doumit, CALS associate dean of academic programs, said VBM still continues to operate at a limited capacity, although they are battling other issues. For example, pork trim, which is necessary for sausage and other products manufactured by VBM, has been less available due to industry-wide shortages.
Doumit said VBM plans to operate as close to normal as possible by next spring.
“Hope for the best, plan for the worst,” Stauffer said. “That is an old saying and that’s what we are kind of operating by.”
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5