Some of Iowa State’s most comprehensive hands-on career training was on display at Kildee Hall Wednesday afternoon. The College of Agriculture and Life Science’s Science With Practice program held a poster presentation from 3:30 to 5 p.m., in which 18 undergraduate students displayed their research projects.

The program, which began in 2005 and is funded by the ISU Agricultural Endowment Board and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, can be a lot of work on top of already heavy course loads, but students still participate.

“When you go to grad school, it’s a good tool,” said Bridget Driscoll, graduate research assistant in agricultural education and studies and Science With Practice graduate student.

Participants in the program are paid  — the program covers half, and the students’ department within the college of Agriculture and Life Sciences covers the rest. To sweeten the deal, it’s a two-credit class, which is to say nothing of the practical experience students receive.

“It’s experiential education,” said Jacob Hunter, junior in agricultural and life sciences education and Science With Practice undergraduate student. The participants get an opportunity to work one-on-one with professors to do research on topics of interest to them. Students are invited to participate for as many years as they wish. The research projects cover the entire semester, but in many cases they go even further.

Sarah Johnson, a freshman in agricultural engineering, began her research last fall and said it will continue into this coming fall. Her project examined the rate of greenhouse gas emission from deep-pit swine finisher operations when distillers’ dried grains with solubles are fed to swine.

“The air emissions thing was interesting,” Johnson said. “I wanted to see if emissions and ag engineering are a good fit.”

Some students use the program to combine their interests, such as Andrew Paxson, a freshman in environmental science.

Paxson’s project examined e-coli colonies in Squaw Creek, which flows into the South Skunk River near U.S. Highway 30. After nine months of myriad water, bank and sediment samples, Paxson found concentrations in an area roughly 10 miles from campus, where manure is applied to corn and soybean crops. The e-coli isn’t a problem when the water flows into town, but Paxson’s research will help improve its in-stream modeling. His research combines his interest in farming along with his major in environmental science.

“Water quality is important to me,” he said, “when the farm is affecting the water.”

Not all research is done out in the field; the crucial skills students build up through the Science With Practice program are sometimes simpler in nature.

In her project, Sara Morine, freshman in animal science, helped produce two distance education CD series called PorkBridge and SowBridge, which are sent to hog or sow producers and allow them to participate in presentations by key industry figures.

The CDs, which feature visual material such as slides, among other things, are designed so that a producer can simply “pop in the CD, sit by their computer and call in on the line.” The CDs also contain production tips and issues to be addressed specifically by hog or sow producers, depending on the CD.

“It was a learning experience,” Morine said. “I learned to be professional in the workplace, learned writing skills and learned communication skills.”