US--Ghana Summer Undergraduate Research Experience for US Students at the University of Cape Coast: Bio Diversity in the Tropics

0139175 Wubah这两年的补助金支持八个本科生（每年四个）在加纳的夏季研究计划的参与。 学生将由詹姆斯麦迪逊大学科学与数学学院副院长丹尼尔·武巴博士和科学学院院长科比纳·扬克森博士以及海岸角大学（UCC）的其他教职员工监督。 学生还将被分配同行导师，谁将是高级别的UCC学生在教师导师的实验室从事研究项目。 学生的项目将强调生物多样性对生态系统健康的重要性，以及影响生物多样性的人类和环境因素。 将对自然保护区和国家公园进行实地考察，以研究生物多样性生境的特点和组成部分。 本科生将参加小组会议，研究研讨会，实地考察和技术研讨会，他们还将参加活动，这将增加他们对加纳文化的知识。 在六周结束时，学生将在课程结束时的研讨会上以口头和海报形式展示他们的作品。 回到美国后，学生们还将在校园，地区和国家会议上展示他们的工作成果。 这些研究项目预计将增加学生对西非热带地区生态和生物多样性的了解，提高他们的批判性思维和解决问题的技能，并扩大他们对发展中国家如何开展科学的理解。该项目还将为学生提供与加纳教师和学生建立合作联系的机会。 预计该计划的结果将提高他们在生命科学领域的研究生和专业研究的竞争力。 这笔赠款还促进了美国一所以本科生为主的机构-詹姆斯麦迪逊大学-与撒哈拉以南非洲一所积极从事生物科学研究的大学-海岸角大学之间的合作联系。

0139175WubahThis two-year grant supports the participation of eight undergraduate students (four per year) in a summer research program in Ghana. The students will be supervised by Dr. Daniel Wubah, Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at James Madison University, and Dr. Kobina Yankson, Dean of the Faculty of Science, and other faculty members at the University of Cape Coast (UCC). Students will also be assigned peer mentors, who will be senior level UCC students engaged in research projects in the faculty mentor's laboratory. The students' projects will emphasize the importance of biodiversity to the health of ecosystems, and the human and environmental factors that impact biodiversity. Site visits will be made to nature preserves and national parks to examine the characteristics and components of biologically diverse habitats. The undergraduate students will participate in group meetings, research seminars, field trips, and technical workshops, and they will also take part in activities that will increase their knowledge about Ghanaian culture. At the end of the six-weeks the students will present their work in both oral and poster formats at an end-of-program symposium. Upon their return to the United States, the students will also present the results of their work at campus, regional, and national meetings. These research projects are expected to increase the students' understanding of the ecology and biodiversity in a tropical region of West Africa, improve their skills in critical thinking and problem solving, and broaden their understanding of how science is conducted in a developing country. The project will also provide the students opportunities to develop collaborative linkages with the Ghanaian faculty and students. It is anticipated that the results of this program will increase their competitiveness for graduate and professional studies within the life sciences. This grant also promotes a collaborative linkage between a predominantly undergraduate institution in the United States, James Madison University, and a Sub-Saharan Africa university, University of Cape Coast, that is actively engaged in research in the biological sciences.