Research is reaching new heights at CMU
Jodi Dueck-Read, Director of the Research Office, says the growing research culture at CMU is creating new opportunities for faculty and students.
At CMU, research extends beyond the classroom. Undergraduate students have opportunities to work alongside faculty as research assistants, contributing to meaningful research while gaining valuable hands-on experience.
For Jodi Dueck-Read, Director of the Research Office, those opportunities give students an inside look at the research process.
"RA positions give students the experience of what research is like," she says. "Being involved at CMU means that you often get to see many different parts of the research process."
Those opportunities are growing alongside the ever-increasing breadth and depth of research at CMU. Dueck-Read says the university's research culture has expanded significantly in recent years, creating more opportunities for faculty and students alike.
"I think the research infrastructure at CMU has grown over the last several years," Dueck-Read says. In part, thanks to the development of the Research Ethics Board, Research Office, and various components that have strengthened research at CMU over the past few years.
Dueck-Read, who has been helping provide leadership and support for funded research at CMU, says they have noticed an uptick in the amount of innovative and novel research being conducted within the university.
To celebrate, Dueck-Read along with other members of the Research Office organized a spring Research Week, a five-day long interactive event series that focused on bringing the CMU community together to share, chat, and present the various stages of their own research.
The events—which took place in the spring shortly after convocation—included a book launch for Dr. Sheila Klassen-Wiebe, Associate Professor of New Testament, who published a new commentary on the biblical book of James for the prominent Believers Church Bible Commentary series; seminars on research ethics and CMU's Research Ethics Board; and a guest lecture by Dr. Adele Atkinson, Professor of Practice in Financial Literacy and Wellbeing at the University of Birmingham.
"I really like the kind of celebratory environment," Dueck-Read says.
"We talk a lot about our teaching, and we talk with students a lot, but we don't always talk about our research, and so finding those other spaces has been good."
Research at CMU also extends beyond faculty, with students taking on research assistant (RA) positions across a growing number of projects.
Dueck-Read says the Research Office helps support those positions by processing appointments and assisting faculty as they hire students to work on research projects. As research continues to grow at CMU, she says the office is also working to better track student involvement and the number of RAs working across the university.
She says those experiences help students understand the different stages of research, from research ethics and working with data to collaborating with faculty on ongoing projects.
Some of those opportunities have sent students on an international research trip to Zimbabwe to join the Locally Led Indigenous Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation in Zimbabwe (LINCZ) project, an initiative focused on climate resilience and biodiversity. Other opportunities close to home have RAs deeply involved in projects examining dementia care and family caregiving, broadcasting, and so much more.
As more faculty incorporate RAs into their work, Dueck-Read says the roles are becoming more meaningful for students.
"These are meaningful positions," Dueck-Read says. "It's not just about, 'Okay, I'm going to look up this one thing,' but 'How can I think about this as research?'"
Lee-Anne Dowsett, Chair of the CMU Research Ethics Board, says the vast amount of quality research coming out of CMU is moving the university in a positive direction.
She credits much of that to Dueck-Read. "Jodi meets with me every year to hear what I'm doing, what I'm working on, and how she can support me, or how the Research Office can help. So, it's a huge thing," Dowsett says.
"We are all super excited about the growth of the research at CMU."