Looking from a different perpective!

While participating in the LAKES REU, I've developed a better method of creative thinking. Working on the Biology aspect of the project, sometimes you have to use different methods to come to a certain conclusion. For example, Bill and I were discussing my vision for my poster and what story did I want to portray to the viewers. There was no one answer, so I was able to think creatively and together we were able to come up with a vision that showed the importance of the project. Working in a interdisciplinary research project, we are able to mix together people from different fields of study in a way in which we could all generate breakthrough results. Today, I had the opportunity to shadow the economic portion of our research. It was refreshing to see the economic perspective of the project because its completely different from the Biology standpoint. During my time with Lisette, Megan and Chris, I was able to understand how they developed their question based on their targeted audience. I was also able to learn a little economic theory from Chris and how they used certain equations to log in their data. I also learned from listening to the economic group that it involves a lot of critical thinking. For instance, we were discussing which factors to use in order to determine people's willingness to volunteer. It was fun to pinpoint your ideas and use it to come up with the best strategy. I really enjoyed shadowing another's group project and viewing the research project from a different standpoint. Although our fields of study are completely different, you can see how they work hand- in- hand to generate the ultimate outcome.