Undergraduate Research in Aquatic Environmental Sciences

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9605127 Sterner The University of Minnesota, through its field stations at Lake Itasca, the Gray Freshwater Institute, and the Cedar Creek natural area, hosts a summer-research program for undergraduate students, with emphasis on aquatic environmental science. Building upon a distinguished record of training and research, emphasizing field-based research in modern limnology, the University's program immerses students in a highly interactive, ten-week session of research projects, seminars, workshops, and presentations. A large staff of faculty mentors, augmented by visiting scientists during the summer, shares common interests in research related to water quality and the analyses of physical, chemical, and biological processes that occur in lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. Minority-student participation as well as participation by women have been significant in past NSF-supported programs, and efforts are being made to continue those emphases. The research components of the program include: (1) student projects under the sponsorship of a mentor scientist, in which each student develops a research question and associated hypotheses, implements the project, collects and analyzes data; (2) presentation of brief oral reports in weekly student seminars; and (3) preparation of a summary of the research project in the form of a scientific poster for a campus-wide symposium. An initial three-day orientation session, local field trips, and numerous seminars by visiting scientists complement these activities.