Gemstone

0102 Ellicott Hall, 301-405-8047
www.gemstone.umd.edu
Dr. James Wallace

Gemstone is a four-year program in the Honors College whose students come from many different majors and with a variety of interests.  They have a unique opportunity to explore problems of social importance in special GEMS courses, but most importantly as members of undergraduate research teams.  Under the guidance of faculty mentors, Gemstone students carry out research that often takes into consideration some combination of science, technology, history, ethics, politics, sociology, psychology and business, among other perspectives.  Thus, we are eager to have students from all majors at the university participate in these multidisciplinary projects.

Some of the research projects that current Gemstone senior teams are completing include studies of:  revitalization efforts against the hypoxic environment in the Chesapeake Bay; extending the viability of human organ transplants using a controlled delivery of hydrogen sulfide, demonstrating that visual-spatial working memory can be improved through extensive cognitive training; making more efficient TiO2 photovoltaic cells by integrating photosynthetic plant pigments; testing whether treatment programs within a county prison can alter inmate beliefs toward non-violence and developing an effective method of producing algal biofuels. These are only a few of the wide variety of topics current Gemstone student teams are researching.

Students in the Gemstone Program select research topics during their freshman year through a discussion-based process led by the staff and upper-class Gemstone students.  Team research begins in earnest at the beginning of the sophomore year and continues into the senior year when each team writes a team thesis and then defends it before a distinguished panel made up of experts from academe, industry, and government. Some teams that have done exceptional research present their work at professional conferences and even subsequently publish it in professional journals.  Some of our student teams have won grant funding for their research, and other teams have applied for patents.  Students who successfully complete the Gemstone Program receive the Honors College-Gemstone Citation, which appears on their transcript.

What Gemstone provides participants is the experience of learning to do original research with a team of high achieving students under the supervision of a faculty mentor.  It also makes opportunities available for students to develop leadership and citizenship qualities.  Less tangible but of equal importance, the Program exists as a living-learning environment in which its students are supported by the Gemstone staff, mentors and their fellow students in both their academic endeavors and some social activities.

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