Culture
Working in a lab should be more than a place you go to conduct an experiment.
It should be a place of enjoyment, friendships, and a safe place to fail and learn. Progress in science is dependent upon previous failures. We want to create an environment where you are comfortable trying new things – often leading to failure – and are supported by those around you. Science is difficult. You need encouragement, motivation, and sometimes, breaks to progress.
Our goal is for everyone to feel welcome and accepted.
Lab members are encouraged to get to know one another, not just work side-by-side on an experiment. We are open to diverse backgrounds, training, experiences, and opinions. Without diversity, our work would be stagnant. We learn from one another and are open to teaching to both those above and below. Some lab members may have more schooling than others, but we actively remind ourselves that this does not mean that we know more about a subject.
We believe in giving back and selfless service
We believe in helping our community. We regularly participate in National Biomechanics Day and other events and outreach.
The Ultimate Oreo Experiment
What happens when lab meeting becomes a debate about the best Oreo cookie? Any scientist will tell you, the answer lies in the data. Ten volunteers ranked eleven cookies, with and without dunking them in milk, while blindfolded. Scoring was 1 to 5 by show of hands, where 5 was the best.
It’s no secret that Oreo is one of America’s most beloved cookies. In fact, Kraft Foods has gone so far as to state that the Oreo is the “World’s Best Selling Cookie” (Oreo, 2023). Oreo claims to be “Milk’s Favorite Cookie,” and has boasted since 1912 that is the number one selling cookie in the United States (Milk’s Favorite Cookie, 2018). Oreo has been around for over one hundred years. In 1928, Oreo began selling outside the United States and quickly after it became one of the world’s most loved cookies. Selling over 40 billion cookies a year (About Us, 2023), it may appear obvious that this is the case, but it’s time this claim was put to the test.
Specific Aim 1: The first aim of this study was to determine if the Original flavor compares to the Golden. To test this aim, Original, Original Double Stuf, Original Mega Stuf, and Golden were sampled in a blind study.
Specific Aim 2: The second aim of this study was to determine the best non-classic flavor. As there are a lot of Oreo flavors, and we wanted our subject’s safety to be in mind and did not want to induce a sugar coma or early onset Type I diabetes, we sampled a few of the flavors. Pending the success of this study and future funding, we hope to eventually taste all of them.
RESULTS
Aim 1:
- Main effect of cookie type: p = .0113
- Un-dunked, no significant difference btwn cookies
- Dunked, Plain jane significantly higher rating than golden
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- Double Stuf significantly higher rating than golden
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- Main effect of dunk: p = .0053
- Dunked received a higher rating average of 3.350 compared to un-dunked at 2.650
Aim 2:
- Main effect of cookie type: p < .0001
- Un-dunked, no significant difference btwn cookies
- Dunked, Mint significantly higher rating than cotton candy
- Chocolate PB pie significantly higher rating than cotton candy
- Main effect of dunk: p = .3733
About Us. (2023). Retrieved from Oreo: https://www.oreo.com/about-us
Milk’s Favorite Cookie. (2018, April). Retrieved from Strategic Business Insights: https://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/whyology/news/trends/2018-04trend.shtml#:~:text=Advertised%20as%20%22Milk’s%20Favorite%20Cookie,since%20it%20launched%20in%201912.
Oreo. (2023, May 29). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreo#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Kraft%20Foods,%22World’s%20Best%20Selling%20Cookie%22.