REU Site: Undergraduate Research Training Program in Marine Biosciences at the Whitney Laboratory

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The REU program in Marine Bioscience is held at the Whitney Laboratory, University of Florida, located near the town of St. Augustine in pristine northeast Florida. From its inception in 1986, this REU program has had two major objectives: 1) to provide interns with a realistic and professional research experience; and 2) to make interns aware of the value of marine animals and other comparative model systems in fundamental biological research. With the guidance of experienced mentors, interns work independently on a project selected from topics in neurobiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, biochemistry, genomics and nanotechnology. Generally, interns work with marine model systems such as horseshoe crabs, lobsters, mollusks, cnidarians and non-marine invertebrates. Projects are sculpted from ongoing research efforts yet are distinct. Interns attend lectures on the diverse research programs at the Laboratory and participate in weekly discussions on ethical scientific conduct and workshops on lab safety, notebook maintenance and scientific communication. Scientific communication workshops help interns become proficient in preparing and presenting materials for seminars, posters and manuscripts. Interns are briefed on the process of applying to graduate school by the directors of University of Florida graduate school programs, and finally, students are introduced to the art of working with school children by assisting in local marine science enrichment programs. In summary, interns can expect an intense research and professional development experience that will help them achieve the next level of scientific expertise and confidence. Intense work is accompanied by scheduled leisure activities including picnics, canoe excursions in the local marshes, and field trips to three different Florida marine environments. The program will accept 8 students for an 11-week summer session. Students are recruited from colleges and universities throughout the United States and territories, with special emphasis on schools traditionally populated by students under-represented in the sciences and from schools that lack graduate programs in the biological sciences. For more information contact Jessica Roberts-Misterly, the education coordinator, at 904-461-4011 or Jessica@whitney.ufl.edu, or visit: http://www.whitney.ufl.edu/reu/undergrad.htm.