Collaborative Research: REU Site: Phenotypic plasticity research for community college students

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This REU Site award to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign located in Urbana, IL, and Parkland College, located in Champaign, IL, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2017-2019. Participants will conduct research in the area of phenotypic plasticity, the phenomenon of a single genotype producing multiple phenotypes depending on environment. The program will begin with a two-week "boot-camp" on topics ranging from specific laboratory methods to discussions of research ethics. Students will then join a research immersion program within a research lab at the University of Illinois. Possible research projects include the interaction between genotype and ozone pollution on maize growth, the effect of environmental stress on neuroanatomy, and the interactions of genes and environment on fish behavior. Students will present their research at an undergraduate research symposium on the University of Illinois campus as well as their community college. Applications will be accepted beginning in December preceding the summer program and final decisions on admittance made by March 31st. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students over three years will be trained in the program. This REU Site will focus on students from community colleges, which typically have very few research opportunities. Community colleges often have a large percentage of underrepresented groups and this REU Site will encourage applications from these groups. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences.A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (Directorate for Biological Sciences) will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program is available by visiting http://dev2.igb.illinois.edu/reu-plasticity/, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Nathan Schroeder at nes@illinois.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. C. Britt Carlson at ccarlson@parkland.edu).