The University announced Oct. 24 an agreement to purchase seven buildings and additional properties in the Jewelry District as part of its expansion off College Hill. As administrators prepare for this next step of the University's expansion, some undergraduates already travel to existing University facilities in the Jewelry District on a regular basis as part of their coursework or research projects.
Brown already owns several properties in the Jewelry District, including the Laboratories for Molecular Medicine at 70 Ship St., which was purchased in 2004. No undergraduate classes are held at the Ship Street facility, and only a handful of graduate classes meet there. The space is mostly used for professors' research, according to the University's Web site.
Some undergrads, however, have the opportunity to conduct their own research at 70 Ship St. through independent research projects, according to Marjorie Thompson, associate dean of biological sciences.
Students currently working at 70 Ship St. "are performing research under the auspices of the faculty whose labs are housed at (the Ship Street lab) in the form of independent courses, summer projects (UTRAs, etc.), and some volunteers," Thompson wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
Thompson was unable to provide the exact number of students who travel to the Jewelry District to conduct research.
Krista Hachey '07, a biochemistry concentrator, is currently helping conduct research at 70 Ship St. as part of her senior thesis. Hachey said she is unsure how many undergrads participate in research or other work in the Ship Street lab, but she said three other undergraduates work in the lab she does and at least four are involved in research in the lab next door. Thompson wrote that students have been making use of the labs since they were first "up and running" in the fall of 2004.
Hachey works in the lab of Assistant Professor of Biology Jeff Singer, studying the relationship between protein degradation and structural proteins.
During her time at Brown, Hachey has worked at several on-campus labs with other professors but is completing the independent research work required for her concentration in the Jewelry District. Hachey said she works in the Ship Street lab because Singer's research is located there.
Thompson noted that the location of a professor's research is the most common factor that causes them to leave College Hill for research projects.
"When student projects are planned, they will go work with faculty where ever the lab is, whether campus, hospitals or at ship," Thompson wrote.
Most students who work at the Ship Street lab use the safeRIDE BrownMed/Downcity Express shuttle to travel to the area, according to Thompson. The shuttle travels among the main Brown campus, 121 South Main St. and the Jewelry District and nearby hospitals, according to its Web site. The shuttle service is free and "really convenient," Hachey said.
Hachey said she enjoys working in the Jewelry District lab and commented that it is much more modern than other labs she has worked in. Unlike some of the biology labs on campus, the Ship Street facility is a much newer development, as it was retrofitted for laboratory use prior to its opening in August 2004.
"The space is designed to be really uplifting. There are more windows, there's air flowing, it's very clean," Hachey said. She added that the building's design, which includes many open spaces, helps facilitate communication and collaboration among those who work there, but "everyone still has their own space."
70 Ship St.'s Jewelry District location is especially useful for students because of its proximity to many of Providence's hospitals, Hachey said.
Although labs on campus are "more convenient, especially for weekend and late night work," Thompson wrote that she has not heard any complaints from students working at Ship Street.
She added it is important for undergraduates to participate in research with faculty members, "so wherever they are located, we are grateful."
Hachey said she believes that as more professors conduct their research off the Hill, "getting off campus is going to become more routine, especially for people in the sciences."
"It's important that students don't feel deterred, because it's so easy to get there," she added.
It is unclear how much of the recently purchased property will be used for the sciences. Rebecca Barnes '71, director of strategic growth, told The Herald in October that using the buildings for science-related initiatives is in accordance with the Plan for Academic Enrichment, though she speculated that the new properties might also be converted into administrative and residential space.
