REU Site: Environmental Biology Studies at UVA's Blandy Experimental Farm

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The University of Virginia's Blandy Experimental Farm will host 10 students per year in an 11-week program in Environmental Biology, with an emphasis on Ecology and Evolution. During the program, students will choose a mentor, develop a research proposal, carry out fieldwork, analyze data, and present their findings in both oral and written format. The program will seek to build a diverse, cooperative student community in which students gain first-hand experience in all aspects of research science. Mentors' projects include plant population biology, plant-insect interactions, pollination biology, ecosystem ecology, conservation, invasive species, science education, aquatic ecology and applied insect ecology. Because most projects are carried out at Blandy, students get exposed to all of the research going on at the field site and often assist one another and other researchers in the field, thus gaining a panoramic view of environmental biology. In addition to participating in research projects, students attend weekly seminars given by visiting scholars, and take advantage of the numerous biological and cultural opportunities in northern Virginia. Blandy Experimental Farm is an ecological field station (not a farm) at the northern edge of the Shenandoah Valley. It is rural in character, but not isolated: it lies within 10 miles of the Shenandoah River, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Appalachian Trail, and only 60 miles from Washington, DC. Students are chosen based on their prior academic performance, recommendations, and interests. More information is available at http://www.virginia.edu/blandy/ReuWebPage/HomePage.php or by contacting Dr. T'ai Roulston at tai.roulston@virginia.edu.