What are the responsibilities and job description for the CURI Summer Researcher 2025 Beussman Human Scent Analysis position at St. Olaf College?
Job Title: CURI Summer Researcher
Classification: Student Employee (non-exempt)
Name and Address of Employer: St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Ave, Northfield, MN 55057
If the position requires the student to work off campus, provide the name and address here:
Department Name: CURI
Unit Number (5 digits): 16118
Length of Position: See Employment Authorization
Contact Person/Supervisor: Faculty advisor listed in CURI Elevator database
Pay Rate (Check One) Standard Hourly Rate x Supervisory/Special Skills Hourly Rate
Description of the Position: (Purpose of the Position): Students work together with a faculty member on scholarly or artistic projects. The project results are presented in the CURI Fall Showcase in October.
Project Title : Human Scent Analysis
Faculty Mentor: Douglas Beussman
Project Description: This project will involve using GC/MS techniques to characterize human scent profiles. Slight differences in normal human scent patterns are used by canines to differentiate and track humans. We are interested in developing a laboratory-based technique that can be used to investigate these scent differences. The volatile organic compounds found in normal human scent are at extremely low concentrations, often ppb or ppt levels and thus require a very sensitive technique to profile these compounds. Possible applications of this GC/MS scent profiling method include forensic case work and disease state detection.
Transferable Skills: Research and presentations.
Duties and Responsibilities: Each project has its own timing in terms of number of hours per week and number of weeks, not to exceed 40 hours per week from May 29 to August 8 . See the CURI Digital Olaf database for individual project descriptions and details. Students working at least 30 hours per week for at least 7 weeks will receive free on-campus housing-see the Student Guidelines for details.
See the application instructions for all projects.
CURI summer researchers-whether full-time or part-time-are encouraged to participate in professional development opportunities and community-building events. All researchers are expected to participate in the CURI Fall Showcase (by presenting a poster, website, music composition, dance, etc.) unless they are studying off-campus in the fall.
Qualifications: (Education/Experience/Skills) A student interested in applying for the CURI summer program must be enrolled as a St. Olaf student and be a rising sophomore, junior, or senior. There is no GPA requirement that must be met in order to apply for the program, but a student’s academic record will be considered during the selection process. Skills are dependent on individual projects.
This job description is for general information purposes. It is not intended to list all duties and responsibilities of the position. This job description is subject to change at any time by St. Olaf.
