W hen I first came to the University of Ken-
tucky seven years ago I was leery of taking undergraduates into my research laboratory because of the great amount of time it would require to train them. I had to remind myself that it was my experience working in a laboratory as an undergraduate chemistry major that stimulated me to continue on for graduate studies. In addition, my first peer-reviewed publication was from the results I obtained during undergraduate studies. So, I did accept a few undergraduates to work in the lab my first year at UK. From the joy of working with these first students, I quickly realized that working and exchanging ideas with undergraduate students is half the fun of conducting research. For most investigators like myself, academic research will not make one rich financially, so one ought to enjoy what one does and make the working environment as rich intellectually as possible.

During my tenure here at UK, I have had 32 undergraduates conduct research for at least one semester in my lab. Thirteen of these undergraduate students who worked one semester in the laboratory came back to continue their projects for a full year or more. Five worked in the lab for at least two years. Twenty-three of these undergraduates have appeared as primary author or as co-author on peer-reviewed publications. Some of the undergraduates have their name on two or three articles, as well as a book chapter. In addition, many of the undergraduates have presented their research findings at local, national, or international scientific meetings.

The University has been helpful in seeing that undergraduates get a chance to present at scientific meetings by financially assisting students to partially cover their expenses. This type of continued assistance for the students and mentors is necessary, because it allows mentors to avoid depleting grant dollars in travel and boarding costs while attending national or international meetings. A number of my students have also been granted National Science Foundation (NSF) Research for Undergraduate Education (REU) funds.