REU Site: Networked Access to Systematic Resources for Undergraduates in Chicagoland

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The Field Museum REU Site will provide a research program for undergraduates during the summers of 2009-2011. Eight students will be selected each year to participate in an intensive 10-week research program in biodiversity-related and evolutionary biological research. The Field Museum houses one of the world's foremost scientific collections of biological diversity (25 million specimens) and supports active biodiversity research around the globe. Despite the urgency of the current biodiversity crisis, few educational opportunities exist for students in the biological sciences to interact with scientists and institutions dedicated to the study of organic diversity. Each participant will undertake an independent research project supervised by a museum scientist in a discipline such as taxonomy and systematics, phylo/ biogeography, paleontology, molecular phylogenetics, or conservation. Students will experience biological diversity through the use of the museum's collections in their research and will be trained in project-relevant techniques and equipment such as the scanning electron microscope, various light microscopy set-ups, and equipment in the Pritzker DNA lab. A six-week course in phylogenetic systematics, run concurrently with intern projects, will provide a common theoretical framework for their research, and a symposium at the conclusion of the summer will allow students to present their results to their peers and museum scientists. Providing equal opportunity in biodiversity-related research is an important goal of the program. Additional information can be found at http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/scholarships/reu.html or by contacting the Program Director, Dr. Petra Sierwald, psierwald@fieldmuseum.org, telephone 312-665-7744.