Stable Isotopic Applications to Great Plains Ecology, Paleoecology, Archeology, and Physiology

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This award provides funds to continue support for another year in the Department of Biology at Augustana College. The program will support undergraduate participation in a focused research program which integrates the research activities of ten investigators from Augustana College (6), Univ. Nebraska (1), The Nature Conservancy (1), South Dakota State Univ. (1), and Black Hills State Univ. (1). The projects are integrated at the scientific level because of the common interests in prairie ecology and paleoecology, and because aspects of each project benefit from the applications of the stable isotopes of C and N to the research methodology. A coherent group and a unique methodology will be used to continue ecological and archeological reconstructions in a geographic area of rich ecological resources and to encompass growing interest in diets and physiology. Ten students (half women, half from off-campus) will study field and laboratory problems with a common focus. They will be expected to gain some mastery of the theoretical basis for their study as well as the experimental design and ultimate interpretation. Weekly seminars and workshops will review each project's theoretical basis and research design; enhance the students' library, laboratory, data handling, and scientific writing skills; and broaden their understanding of the related projects. The ten- week summer program and academic year independent study will culminate in an REU Symposium in which each student will present his/her interpreted results and conclusions and help develop the hypotheses and research designs for next summer's projects. Outstanding women in the field will be selected as seminar speakers and serve as role models for all students and faculty. We will invite 20 high schools to select an outstanding woman student to attend the REU Symposium and return for one day in the summer.