REU Site: Summer Undergraduate Research in Chemistry at James Madison University: A Regional REU Site that Includes Deaf and Hard of Hearing Participants

该奖项由化学系（CHE）颁发，用于支持2008-2010年夏季詹姆斯麦迪逊大学（JMU）本科生研究经验（REU）站点的更新。教师研究经验（RET）部分也获得了资助，每年夏天将有一名聋人或教聋人学生的高中教师和两名高中生参加该项目。RET部分由数学和物理科学局下属的多学科活动办公室（OMA）提供支持。这个REU/RET网站将由来自JMU化学系的Daniel Downey和Gina MacDonald管理。这个REU站点每年夏天将带12名本科生到校园进行为期10周的化学研究。8名学生将得到国家科学基金的资助，2名学生将得到机构基金的资助。提供给学生的研究机会涵盖了广泛的化学领域，包括有机，无机，生物化学，有机金属合成与化合物表征，环境分析化学，核化学和物理化学。每年夏天，两名外部教师导师也将加入该网站。这些导师在JMU期间将有自己的实验室空间，并有机会进行自己的研究项目或与JMU的教职员工合作。该网站的招聘目标是大西洋中部地区较小的学校，并将通过与弗吉尼亚聋哑和盲人学校（VSDB）、聋人示范中学（MSSD）、罗切斯特理工学院和加劳德特大学的联系，专门招募聋人和重听学生，作为暑期项目的组成部分。为了给聋人提供更多的机会，两名学生手语口译员将协助听力正常的聋人学生/教师之间的交流，并研究包含不熟悉的字素组合和语音集群的新手指拼写单词。

This award from the Division of Chemistry (CHE) supports the renewal of a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at James Madison University (JMU) for the summers of 2008-2010. Funding for a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) component has also been awarded which will incorporate one high school teacher, who is either Deaf or teaches Deaf students, and two high school students into the program each summer. The RET component is supported by the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) within the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Directorate. This REU/RET site will be managed by Daniel Downey and Gina MacDonald both from the Department of Chemistry at JMU. This REU site will bring twelve undergraduate students to campus for a ten-week period each summer to conduct research in chemistry. Eight students will be supported by NSF and two will be supported with institutional funds. The research opportunities available to the students span a wide range of chemical areas including organic, inorganic, biochemistry, organometallic syntheses with compound characterization, environmental analytical chemistry, nuclear chemistry, and physical chemistry. Two outside faculty mentors will also join the site each summer. These mentors will be provided with their own laboratory space while they are at JMU and will have the opportunity to either pursue their own research projects or work in conjunction with a faculty member at JMU. Recruitment for this site targets smaller mid-Atlantic regional schools and will specifically recruit Deaf and hard of hearing students as an integral part of the summer program through outreach to the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind (VSDB), the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD), Rochester Institute of Technology, and Gallaudet University. To extend opportunities for the Deaf, two student sign-voice interpreters will assist communication between the hearing/Deaf students/faculty and research novel fingerspelled words containing unfamiliar grapheme combinations and phonetic clusters.