REU Site: Access to Global Biodiversity Studies for Undergraduates

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A Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Sites award has been made to the Field Museum of Natural History that will provide research training for eight undergraduate students, for 10 weeks during the summers of 2012-2014. The program focuses on the unique insight that biological specimens from natural history collections can provide into topics such as taxonomy, phylogeography, biogeography, paleontology, conservation biology, and evolutionary biology, using phylogenetic systematics as a unifying theme. The Field Museum's life sciences departments include 21 curators that are involved in evolutionary biology and systematics research, and who will serve as mentors for the program. Students will conduct full-time lab research as well as participate in seminars on collections-based research in the biological sciences and responsible conduct in research; attend a phylogenetic workshop series; contribute taxon pages to the Encyclopedia of Life; and participate in introductory tours of collections and research facilities throughout the museum. A variety of research topics, such as Ant Diversity in the Rainforests of Australia Through Time or Using Systematic Traits of Teeth to Test Trophic Niche Evolution in Theropod Dinosaurus, are available to students, reflecting the breadth of research carried out by the museum's curators. In addition to their individual mentor's equipment and facilities, students will have access to core museum facilities such as the research collections, the Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, two scanning electron microscopes, the Collaborative Invertebrate Laboratory, and the museum's extensive research library. The program will be advertised on the Field Museum website, with additional targeted advertising taking place at Chicago-area colleges and universities, particularly those that serve underrepresented communities. Applications will be accepted via an online system. Students will be selected based on academic record, previous research performance, potential for outstanding research in evolutionary and systematic biology, and potential for broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in science. Program components will be tracked and updated using the USRAA common assessment tools, as well as our own pre- and post-internship surveys. More information is available by visiting http://fieldmuseum.org/about/research-experiences-undergraduates-reu, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Petra Sierwald; psierwald@fieldmuseum.org) or the co-PI (Dr. Kenneth Angielczyk, kangielczyk@fieldmuseum.org).