Ring leader of the rat-training circus
Andy Craig, a first-year graduate student at USU, said he’s never done anything close to what he does now in all his previous research experience. Though he said he loves it now, it wasn’t something he always had as a goal for his field.
Craig, 23, is a research assistant for the USU Laboratory Animal Research Center, investigating different behaviors in rats and pigeons in an effort to transverse the understanding of the behaviors from animals to humans.
“I never did anything like this in my undergraduate,” Craig said. “But to come in to work in this setting, I feel what we’re doing is of the utmost importance.”
The Point Marion, Pa., native received his bachelor’s degree in psychology at West Virginia University. He said he originally planned on pursuing a degree in music, but after a while he “fell in love with psychology” and made the decision to finish his undergraduate in the psychology field by earning a graduate degree in psychology.
“I feel as though I really enjoy the process of being in graduate school, because it’s something that I really love, and I have worked with fabulous individuals. It’s been a great experience,” he said.
Most of the research, he said, is studying addictive behaviors in rats and pigeons. Craig, along with other lab workers, puts the animals in a controlled environment — a cage or collective place — where they simple tasks such as opening a door, flipping a switch or spinning a wheel.
He said the animals are rewarded with food or, more often in this place, small amounts of alcohol or cocaine.
Lab assistants then observe the animals’ reactions to receiving the reward and how they react if they do not receive the award.
“One of our major goals is to study relapse of drug taking and drug seeking,” Craig said. “We’ll have a rat that will respond to alcohol for instance, then we’ll stop giving them alcohol and go to drug seeking to see if things decline. We can really see how conditions thwart behavior.”
Craig said he feels privileged to be engaged in such a study, because USU is one of only four schools in the United States involved in this study. This doesn’t surprise him, he said, and it’s added proof of the positive experience he’s had so far with USU.
“I don’t think I could have ended up in a better program,” Craig said. “My adviser and I get along really well, and my experience here can only help to get a good career.”
As he continues to progress in his degree, Craig said he hopes to find himself in a future faculty position at a university.
“I’ve worked with some awesome individuals,” he said, “and it has inspired me to pursue this field and even grad school. I look at the people I’ve worked with, and I feel I could work with students in that kind of way.”
Aside from his core studies, Craig said he looks to music to get him through tough times. Craig has been playing the saxophone for seven years and the oboe for four, and he said he tries to play as often as time permits.
“It is really my stress relief,” he said. “After a long day, I really look forward to coming home and playing and listening to music.”
Craig said he also loves to cook and tries to find and come up with new recipes and ideas.
His favorite creation as of late, he said, was an Asian stir fry, but overall he has no set food preferences, he mainly just enjoys cooking.
“I’m a grad student and don’t get much time to do leisure activities,” he said. “So it’s fun to try and make something awesome I’ve never tasted before, which has grown more in Logan, since it has become a way to separate school with my personal life.”
Craig said he’s grateful he is where he is, after finding something he loves to do and pursuing it during his undergraduate years, which is something he suggested to all students.
“If I could tell (students) anything, it is to follow what they want to do,” Craig said. “The undergraduate years are a perfect opportunity to find the field you fall in love with. Once you find it, run with it and pursue it.”
– steve.schwartzman@aggiemail.usu.edu