US-Peru Collaborative Research: Undergraduate Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory

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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.