REU Sites: Terrestrial-aquatic linkages in urban impacted ecosystems

肯特州立大学(KSU；与克利夫兰附近的霍尔登植物园(HA))获得了本科生研究体验(REU)场地奖，将在2013年至2015年夏季为10名学生提供为期10周的研究培训。该计划侧重于受城市影响的环境中的陆地-水生联系。学生研究将在KSU和HA周围的几个实地地点进行，这些地点受到城市化、工业、农业、采矿和娱乐等人类活动的不同程度影响。在该计划的早期，培训和队列活动将在KSU和HA进行，包括实地考察和使用主动学习练习的研讨会。强调的技能将包括道德培训和负责任的研究行为，产生可检验的假说，向不同的受众传播科学，以及让非科学家参与研究。队列活动将鼓励学生团队合作，交流，分析他们的数据质量，并将数据归档到地理空间数据库中。然后，学生将在拥有广泛陆地和水生态专业知识的教师的指导下进行研究。这些项目可以包括研究人类活动如何影响陆地和水生生态系统内部和之间的营养物质流动，改变微生物群落组成，或促进抗生素耐药性的演变。每周的阅读/讨论小组将把参与者和导师聚集在一起，以进一步促进学生与学生和学生与导师的互动，同时培养成功的科学事业所必需的沟通技能。参与者将从美国的学院和大学以及当地的两年制学院(凯霍加社区学院、莱克兰社区学院、科罗拉多州立大学的地区校区)招募，其中来自代表性不足的群体的学生比例很高，这些群体往往不会继续他们的教育。参与者的选择将根据学生资格、兴趣声明和推荐信进行。参与者将通过网页、博客和Facebook页面以及后续调查进行跟踪。关于该计划的信息将由外部评估员使用REU通用评估工具进行评估。欲了解更多信息，请访问http://ecologyREU.kent.edu，，或联系国际和平组织(帕特里克·洛奇博士，电子邮件：plorch@kent.edu)或联合国际组织(库尔特·斯梅莫博士，电子邮件：KesMemo@holdenarb.org)。

A Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Sites award has been made to Kent State University (KSU; with The Holden Arboretum (HA) near Cleveland) that will provide research training for 10 students, for 10 weeks during the summers of 2013 to 2015. The program focuses on terrestrial-aquatic linkages within urban-impacted environments. Student research will be conducted at several field sites around KSU and HA that are impacted to varying degrees by human activities such as urbanization, industry, farming, mining, and recreation. Early in the program, training and cohort activities will take place at both KSU and HA, including field trips and workshops that use active-learning exercises. Skills emphasized will include ethics training and responsible conduct of research, generating testable hypotheses, communicating science to diverse audiences, and involving non-scientists in research. Cohort activities will encourage students to work in teams, communicate, analyze the quality of their data, and archive data in a geospatial database. Students will then conduct research mentored by faculty with wide ranging expertise in terrestrial and aquatic ecology. These projects could include examining how human activities affect the flow of nutrients within and between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, change microbial community composition, or contribute to the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Weekly reading/discussion groups will bring participants and mentors together to further student-student and student-mentor interactions while fostering the communication skills necessary for a successful science career. Participants will be recruited from both U.S. colleges and universities and local two-year colleges (Cuyahoga Community College, Lakeland Community College, KSU's regional campuses) with a high proportion of students from underrepresented groups that often do not continue their education. Participant selection will occur based on student qualifications, statement of interest and recommendation letters. Participants will be tracked using a web page, blog and Facebook page and through followup surveys. Information about the program will be assessed by an external assessor and using an REU common assessment tool. For more information visit http://ecologyREU.kent.edu, or contact the PI (Dr. Patrick Lorch at plorch@kent.edu) or co-PI (Dr. Kurt Smemo at ksmemo@holdenarb.org).