REU Site: Ecological, environmental and conservation biology studies in Ghana, West Africa

该奖项由生物基础设施部和国际科学与工程办公室联合颁发，支持加纳海岸角大学（UCC）本科生研究经验项目的继续开展。这个REU站点项目侧重于热带地区的生态学、生物多样性和保护生物学。今年夏天，来自美国大学的学生将在UCC度过六周的时间，在加纳科学家的指导下从事特定的研究项目。在此奖励期间（2007-2010年），共有12名学生参加该项目。该计划有两个主要研究重点：i)潜在有用植物的生物勘探和ii)生态和生物多样性研究。参与者将与他们的导师合作设计实验，收集和分析他们的数据，并在加纳展示他们的结果。回到美国后，学生们将在地区和国家会议上发表演讲。实地地点将包括卡库姆国家森林和埃尔米纳海滩。学员将获得民族植物学、热带生物学、水产养殖、生态学、昆虫学、分类学和分析化学等方面的技能。他们将在同行评议的期刊上发表他们的研究结果。生态学研究将产生关于热带昆虫和植物物种的新的和有价值的信息，这些信息可能尚未在文献中描述过。该项目收集的数据也将有助于编制潜在濒危物种的清单和整体的保护研究。参与者将获得宝贵的跨文化体验。更多信息请访问http://www.honors.ufl.edu/ucc/或通过dawubah@ufl.edu联系Daniel Wubah。

This joint award from the Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Office of International Science and Engineering supports the continuation of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana. This REU site program focuses on ecology, biodiversity and conservation biology in the tropics. Students from US universities will spend six weeks at UCC during the summer working on defined research projects under the mentorship of Ghanaian scientists. A total of twelve students will participate in the program during this award period (2007-2010). This program has two main research foci: i) bioprospecting for potentially useful plants and ii) ecological and biodiversity studies. Participants will design experiments in collaboration with their mentors, collect and analyze their data, and present their results in Ghana. Upon their return to the US, students will make presentations at regional and national meetings. Field sites will include the Kakum National Forest and Elmina beach. Participants will acquire skills in ethnobotany, tropical biology, aquaculture, ecology, entomology, taxonomy and analytical chemistry. They will be expected to publish their results in peer-reviewed journals. The ecological studies will yield new and valuable information on tropical species of insects and plants that may not have been described in the literature yet. Data gathered in the project will also contribute towards an inventory of potentially endangered species and conservation studies as a whole. Participants will have an invaluable cross-cultural experience. More information is available at http://www.honors.ufl.edu/ucc/ or by contacting Daniel Wubah at dawubah@ufl.edu.