Alex Hill of Wichita Falls Conducting Biology Research at Southwestern University this Summer

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Alex Hill holds a leaf with apple snail hatchlings on it.

GEORGETOWN, TX (06/27/2013)(readMedia)-- Alex Hill of Wichita Falls is one of 31 students conducting research at Southwestern University this summer as part of a new student-faculty collaborative research program called SCOPE.

The SCOPE program is part of the HHMI-Southwestern Inquiry Initiative, which is funded by a $1.3 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Students participating in the eight-week program get their housing paid for as well as a stipend.

Hill is working with Romi Burks, a professor of biology at Southwestern whose research focuses on apple snails. Hill is helping Burks raise apple snail hatchlings to see if predators such as fish consume hatchlings the same way they consume snail eggs.

Hill graduated from Southwestern in May and wants to pursue a career in research or attend pharmacy school.

Southwestern University is a selective, nationally recognized undergraduate liberal arts college with an enrollment of 1,400 students. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in Texas. For more information on Southwestern, visit www.southwestern.edu.