An International Experience for Undergraduates: Australia Biodiversity and Ecological Research

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SheppardOISE-0436605This award supports a project, "International Research Experience for Undergraduates in Australia Biodiversity and Ecological Research." The principal investigators are Ursula Sheppard, University of New Mexico (UNM), and A. Joshua Leffler, Louisiana Tech University. In Australia, two CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation) facilities (Darwin and Atherton) and the Lizard Island Research Station, which is part of the Australia Museum, will host the students. Fourteen undergraduates and one graduate student from UNM and Louisiana Tech will spend one month in the summer of 2006 engaged in field research and visits to various ecosystems, including subtropical rain forest, tropical savanna, tropical rain forest, and barrier-reef islands. This award builds on and expands upon two earlier grants from the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering that supported a summer institute for U.S. students in Australia. This new award supports a field research program that teaches the scientific process, ecological research techniques, and natural history in Australia. It will focus on training students in biodiversity assessment and conservation.The goal of this program is to prepare students for future research endeavors by teaching the research process from conception to publication. This goal will be accomplished by starting students on projects specifically directed by faculty, who will teach techniques related to field ecology and biodiversity. Students will then progress to more complex projects designed around specific questions in biodiversity. Finally, students will design, conduct, analyze, write up, and present a final project of their choosing. Students will also learn about tropical flora and fauna and various conservation projects. The program targets undergraduates early in their academic career, students who are unlikely to have the opportunity to do field research abroad, and biology and other majors.