REU Site: Disturbance Ecology in Central Appalachia

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This REU Site award to Eastern Kentucky University, located in Richmond, KY, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks, during the summers of 2017- 2019. Students will be based in Richmond, and will conduct ecological research at remote field stations in a region of high biodiversity but impacted by mountaintop coal mining, logging, and other disturbances. Students will work directly with faculty mentors and collaborators, including agency professionals, and will participate in all aspects of research including study design, data collection, analyses, and presentation of results. A weekly workshop will provide additional learning opportunities on topics such as ethics and the responsible conduct research, leadership, and career development. Participants will engage with their community and develop communication skills with scientists, land managers, and the public, while exploring the implications of their own research in a setting rife with controversy related to the economic and cultural tradeoffs of resource extraction and environmental conservation. Research findings could help shape resource management in a way that brings socioeconomic benefits to the region.It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Student participants will include individuals from the study region, and from other parts of the nation, often from very different socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. First generations college students, students with disabilities, and veterans will also be recruited. Students will learn how research is conducted and communicated, 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://biology.eku.edu/reu, or by contacting the PI (Dr. David Brown at david.brown@eku.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Stephen Richter at stephen.richter@eku.edu).