Morehead State University is a small comprehensive university nestled within the Daniel Boone National Forest in Eastern Kentucky. Within our department, we have an undergraduate enrollment of nearly 500, mostly in our biomedical science program. Our students enter with essentially no background in research methods, and they know nothing of entomology. However, Morehead State University emphasizes involvement of students in research. Therefore, I mentor a wide variety of students in entomological research. These include Craft Academy students – advanced high school students taking STEM undergraduate courses – who are strongly encouraged to be involved in research. Also included are honors students, who are required to complete research, as well as biomedical science and biology majors who hope that some research experience will enhance their application to professional schools. Over the past 10 years I have mentored 45 students in entomological research. After several years of trial and error in developing individual research projects for students, I have developed a modular system that seems to work well. Students work in individual groups on interrelated biodiversity projects that involve beetles, ants, wasps, moths, or spiders. All of these can use similar methods of collection, and the students assist each other in data analysis. The more senior students also help the more junior students with specimen preparation and data analysis. Most students collaborate on composing a poster for our annual Celebration of Student Scholarship; and several students have presented at the Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Sciences.
