REU Site: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences - Undergraduate Research Experience in the Gulf of Maine and the World Ocean

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This Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)Site program is located at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (BLOS), West Boothbay Harbor ,ME. The program will support eight students during a ten week summer research program. The goals of this REU Program are i) to provide undergraduate students from around the United States mentoring and access to high quality, hands on research opportunities in lower trophic level Oceanography, ii) expose students to skills and knowledge required for a successful professional science career, and iii) to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in marine science careers. Bigelow Laboratory scientists have expertise in chemical and biological oceanography, mathematics, bio-optics, satellite-oceanography, microscopy, genomics, molecular, organismal and population biology, fisheries and air-sea gas exchange. REU students will be incorporated into a research group consisting of technicians, post-docs, and junior and senior scientists, gaining exposure to the suite of activities and responsibilities involved in a science career. Students will be housed at the McKee House on campus and conduct research in two new buildings that are currently under construction. The program is structured as a "hands-on" research opportunity for motivated young scientists in their last 2 years of formal undergraduate training. REU students at Bigelow conduct independent research projects on a broad array of topics in ocean science and as a group they receive training in scientific ethics, laboratory safety and oceanographic sampling techniques. The program includes weekly meetings during which students develop and discuss all stages of their research projects, from identifying a tractable research question, posing testable hypotheses, drafting a proposal, and conducting their study, to communicating their findings both orally and in writing. At the end of the summer, REU students present their results during the last week at a student research symposium and a research poster session. All students are encouraged to present their results at professional meetings in the year or two following the program. Support provided by NSF includes funding for student stipends, student travel to and from the site, student housing and meals and some administrative costs.