REU Site: Assessment and Sustainable Management of Ecosystem Services

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An award has been made to The University of Arkansas that will provide research training for 10 weeks for 10 students, during the summers of 2011-2013. This program will provide an integrated research experience for three cohort groups of 10 undergraduate students each working with federally recognized Native American Tribes in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Faculty mentors are an interdisciplinary team from seven departments, including Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Anthropology, Biology, Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Sciences, and Geosciences. Each cohort year will begin with a one-week emersion course on Experimental Design followed by an eight week Research Experience and a seminar series on Exploration of Sustainability Ethics across cultures, concluding with a one week intensive program in Data Analysis and Scientific Communications where they will draft, review, revise, and submit written and oral reports of their work. Students will explore the concepts of ecological services and cultural and economic values of ecosystem functions. This REU will take students through the process of developing testable hypotheses, collecting data, analyzing data, and communicating results BOTH in oral and in written form. This experience will integrate classroom and field research within each cohort with sustainable management of ecosystem services. More than 50 students have participated in this program in the past five years. The cohort groups of 10 undergraduate students each will work with a faculty advisor from the Project Team. Information about the program will be assessed by various means, including use of an REU common assessment tool. More information is available by visiting http://www.ecoreu.uark.edu , or by contacting the PI (Dr. Marty Matlock at mmatlock@uark.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Michelle Evans-White at mevanswh@uark.edu).