The LCGC Blog: Teaching Separations to the Next Generation of Instrumentalists

When I was in graduate school and working as a postdoctoral fellow, I would not have predicted that my independent faculty research program would rely so heavily on undergraduate students. I always imagined myself mentoring PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, because that was what I knew from my own experience. When I was first hired as a faculty member 2017 at Chaminade University of Honolulu, we “taught out” the last few Masters of Science (MS) students in the program, and I therefore transitioned to a research program that relied solely on undergraduates. Since Fall 2017, the success of my research program can be attributed to amazing undergraduate researchers that I have been fortunate to work alongside.

After transitioning to the College of William & Mary in 2023, which has a strong focus on undergraduate research, I spent some time “soul searching” in my job application process; I eventually concluded that undergraduate research is a strong passion of mine. I recognize that institutions come in all shapes and sizes, and many academics don’t ever get the chance to experience a program that strongly promotes the core personnel of their research laboratories being formed by undergraduate students. I have come to find that my research evolves in different ways because of the students I mentor. I think that is something very special.

I have always thought that separation science is a great way to connect with undergraduates. A lot of topics within chromatography are based on many of the topics we teach in general chemistry at an early level–think of VSEPR, polarity, intermolecular forces, states of matter, physical and chemical properties, equilibrium, to name a few. The idea of finding out “what’s in something” also seems to be an intriguing way to attract students to chemistry. Most of my students start out thinking that chemistry is only something done at a fume hood that involves mixing chemicals together under specific conditions to synthesize a new compound. They may never have thought about the vast applications of measurement science and applying analytical instrumentation to solve societal problems. After all, separation science touches many applications, with a close connection to social justice and the United Nations’ sustainable development goals; as such, there is much for young scientists to latch onto. For those that identify with separation science who are early in their degree pursuit, they seem to catch the bug. Not only that, but the industry is eager to hire new graduates that have hands-on experience with chromatographic instrumentation.

However, I have sometimes met people who believe that training undergraduates is a transactional endeavor. The supervisor offers to train and prepare the student for their next career steps, and the undergraduate student in turn works as a set of hands in the lab. This type of thinking sometimes bothers me. There is so much more to an undergraduate research experience than simply preparing them for graduate school, medical school, or an industry job, even if those are excellent outcomes of their experiential learning. Thus, I want to share my top 5 highlights for the things I love the most about doing research with a primarily undergraduate program.

1. Mentoring as a transformative experience. Many of my students come to me during their freshman or sophomore year. This means we get to spend several years working together before they graduate, and I don’t feel the need to rush training in the beginning for the need of getting results ASAP. Sometimes, this means that they spend longer with me than a master’s student in my laboratory would. A lot of my students spend a semester volunteering in the laboratory before signing up for research for credit, before going on to continue their work on a more dedicated basis for summer research or an honors thesis. We get to work on grant applications, research papers, conference presentations, and more. Seeing how they change and grow through these experiences is something I will never tire of.
2. Experiencing the academic world through fresh eyes. Let’s be honest–life as an academic can get somewhat monotonous at times, and it always feels like we are being asked to do more. When my students ask questions about serving on professional committees, organizing conferences, serving on editorial boards, external collaborations, and other positions that are somewhat foreign to them, I realize that some of the things I get to do are pretty cool. They are constantly reminding me to take a step back from the great stress of a “to-do” list and appreciate where I am at in my career.
3. Research as a creative endeavor. Due to the nature of research at undergraduate institutions, I can be extremely creative in thinking about new projects. Not every project needs to be tied to a specific grant I have funding for. I can try out something small that may be tangential to my current work without much risk. If a student approaches me with a new idea for a project, I can follow their intuition without worrying that it may not 100% fit into my platform. I have space to try new things and fail. My students approach me with ideas all the time, often generated by things they’ve been talking about in some of their foundational coursework. I really like the way this helps us think about our research from the perspective of different chemical disciplines.
4. Generation of large, meaningful data sets. Because each student stays in the group for a variable amount of time and may or may not ever work on a thesis, their projects don’t always have to amount to one coherent story. Students can work on multiple projects depending on their interests, and I can collect data on a specific project over a very long period if I want to. I was once involved in a collaborative project with other faculty at my prior institution, where we repeated an entire field research trial 10 times over 10 years before finally publishing one large manuscript at the very end of that time. We have the luxury to compile a lot of data from studies over time and compile that data in a unique way. Someinstitutions’ “publish or perish” expectation can prevent researchers from thinking about a scientific question over a long period of time.
5. Fostering an inclusive environment and retention. One of the things I lose sleep about is whether we are doing enough to retain the diverse pool of students we attract into STEM disciplines and understanding where the “leaky pipeline” occurs. I am fortunate to work with a lot of female students, and I have observed several key experiences that disenfranchises women students from continuing STEM pathways, both during and after their undergraduate degree. Being a mentor who is cognizant of these issues helps me to contribute to helping to solve some of these issues, or so I hope will be the case with efforts over time.

Though I love all these things and the idea of preparing students to launch into the world after their degree, there are also a few things I wish my colleagues from other types of institutions understood about my work with undergraduates. First, the research can be slow at times. It is necessary for me to promote that coursework comes first and research second, which is contrary to how we treat responsibilities with graduate students sometimes. It always seems like the start of a semester is slow, mid-semester exams last forever, and nothing can get done during final exams. We make a lot of progress during the summer, when we finally get some dedicated time. I love these moments when I get to pour my time into my students, sitting at the laboratory bench with them over the summer months when neither of us have other distractions. In addition, I wish that reviewers understood that my undergraduate students, who are new to the idea of publishing and operating in the professional space, are seeing every comment that they write and forming opinions of their academic worth through this feedback. I am sometimes shocked at what reviewers write (to a faculty member, student, or otherwise) and think that reviewers who use inflammatory language in their responses should not be allowed to continue reviewing. There is a way to contribute an opinion without being disrespectful, and I sometimes feel I must shield my students from some of the feedback we receive. I am not asking for them to review the content any differently, but rather to think about the delivery of their suggestions. Lastly, for reviewers who are reading grants submitted from primarily undergraduate programs, I wish that they would recognize the balance we must strike between personnel, resources, scientific novelty, training, and broader impacts. I feel this is a challenging balance to strike when requesting funding, and with the competition from larger doctoral granting institutions or those with a history of postdoctoral researchers, we are at risk of being overlooked for the value of these undergraduate programs.

When one of my students gets their first result and recognizes that they are now generating new knowledge, they realize that they are indeed putting their stamp on science. How could that ever get old? I hope that I will be able to continue sustaining a rich undergraduate research program for many years to come. By sharing my thoughts of operating within this environment, I hope that people continue to recognize the value in authentic undergraduate research experiences where we teach students ownership over the scientific process.

About the Author

Katelynn Perrault Uptmor is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at William & Mary. She serves on the SCSC as Secretary. Her research specializes in the application of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography for nontargeted applications related to life, health, disease, and death. She has mentored numerous undergraduate researchers as part of her teaching and research program and holds the title of Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar. Dr. Perrault Uptmor was also recently named the 2025 LCGC Emerging Leader in Chromatography.