US-Peru Collaborative Research: Undergraduate Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory

在这项由美国国际科学与工程办公室美洲项目支持的美国-秘鲁合作项目中，耶鲁大学的斯科特·斯特罗贝尔博士将进行一项涉及实地、课堂和实验室经验的探究式本科科学培训实验。Strobel和秘鲁库斯科大学的热带雨林植物学家Percy Nunez博士将带领本科生前往厄瓜多尔和秘鲁的亚马逊上游雨林，在那里他们将探索多样化的生态系统并收集生物样本。该项目扩大了由霍华德休斯医学研究所教授支持的一项努力，使参与学生的数量和多样性得以增加。该计划将提供包括生态学、化学、微生物学、药理学、分子生物学和生物信息学在内的综合科学经验。学生将分离，表征和命名新的生物，分离新的天然产物和筛选这些材料的生物活性。这个项目将教育学生关于生命的多样性，生态保护的重要性，科学探究的过程，以及科学调查的开放式可能性。通过包括来自科学界代表性不足的群体的学生和一名高中教师，这一经验将进一步推动NSF增加科学界多样性的目标。这是一个机会，可以在未来的研究人员职业生涯的早期阶段激励和装备他们，因为他们在国际环境中从事科学研究。

In this U.S.-Peru collaborative project supported by the Americas Program of the Office of International Science and Engineering, Dr. Scott A. Strobel of Yale University will perform an experiment in inquiry-based undergraduate science training involving field, classroom, and laboratory experiences. Strobel together with Dr. Percy Nunez of the University of Cusco, Peru, a rainforest botanist, will take undergraduate students to the Upper Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador and Peru, where they will explore a diverse ecosystem and collect biological samples. This project expands an effort supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professorship, allowing the number and diversity of participating students to be increased. The program will provide an integrated scientific experience encompassing ecology, chemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, molecular biology and bioinformatics. Students will isolate, characterize and name novel organisms, isolate novel natural products and screen these materials for biological activities. This project will educate students regarding the diversity of life, the importance of ecological conservation, the process of scientific inquiry, and the open-ended possibilities available for scientific investigation. By including students and a high-school teacher from groups that are under-represented in science, this experience will further NSF's aim to increase the diversity of the scientific community. It is an opportunity to inspire and equip future researchers at the earliest stages of their careers, as they do science in an international setting.