An OTS LSAMP Program for Native American, Pacific Islander, Hispanic American, and African American Students at two Research Stations in Costa Rica

摘要：LSAMP扩大参与项目：为哥斯达黎加两个研究站的美洲原住民、太平洋岛民、西班牙裔美国人和非洲裔美国学生提供的REU计划在过去十年中，热带研究组织（OTS）在哥斯达黎加的Las Cruces研究站和La Selva研究站为LSAMP本科生提供了夏季研究经验。这些项目结合了OTS现场研究人员的研究和职业指导，以及学生所在LSAMP机构的家庭导师，以确保将这些经历融入学生的学术生涯。OTS将通过以下方式加强项目：1)从部落、hbcu和其他小型两年制lsamp附属机构招收学生，这些机构的申请和参与率最低；2)通过增加文化导师和其他访问学者，为项目建立文化组成部分；3)为两个项目的学生开展科学交流和拓展培训。4)为学生提供机会，通过旅行奖励来利用他们的研究成果参加科学会议。最后，OTS将通过赞助研讨会和出版选集的方式传播学生的成果。这些努力将展示LSAMP学生分享的丰富经验和成功经验，并通过交流策略、成功经验和最佳实践来扩大项目的影响。OTS LSAMP计划的目标是为来自科学领域代表性最不足的群体的本科生提供实践指导研究经验。具体来说，OTS将继续邀请美洲原住民，太平洋岛民，西班牙裔美国人和非洲裔美国学生参加在哥斯达黎加加勒比海低地雨林的拉塞尔瓦研究站或哥斯达黎加南部的拉斯克鲁塞斯研究站的本科生研究经历（REU）（学生自行选择他们喜欢的地点）。拉斯克鲁塞斯和拉塞尔瓦的LSAMP REU项目的科学目标是：1)刺激LSAMP学生从事生物学和环境科学方面的职业；2)树立对科学方法的清晰认识；3)阐明生物生态系统、生态学作为一门科学的重要性，以及科学在保护中的作用；4)提高学生在本地、区域和国际背景下研究伦理背景的意识。Las Cruces和La Selva项目为期八周，为LSAMP学生提供了理想的培养环境和热带生态学实地研究的科学社区。这两个项目都促进了学生和他们的研究导师之间的日常互动。两者都赋予学生研究项目的自主权，以及作为科学家生活和工作的信心。此外，通过与哥斯达黎加研究人员，土著领袖和社区成员的互动，LSAMP学生接触到不同的文化和社会习俗和规范，以及国际视野。最重要的是，这些项目需要精心召集学生的校园导师/教师顾问，他们参与项目，并在暑期项目结束后很长一段时间内与学生一起工作。通常，家庭导师鼓励学生继续展示他们的工作，甚至在学年期间改进它。在学生的教育和职业道路上，研究和校园导师之间的积极互动可能是重要的，而且往往是变革性的。2015年对这个长达十年的项目进行的一项校友调查显示，作为学生暑期经历的直接结果，72%的学生在科学会议上做了口头或海报演讲，19%的学生与人合作撰写了一篇论文提交给科学期刊，13%的学生与人合作撰写了一篇论文发表在科学期刊上。调查进一步表明，24%的人完成了两年制副学士学位，67%的人完成了四年制学士学位，16%的人完成了硕士学位，2%的人完成了博士学位。而三分之二的校友仍在攻读生命科学或地球科学的学士学位（24%）、硕士学位（24%）或博士学位（20%）。通过OTS计划的延续，最危险的LSAMP学生正在接受知识，技能，信心，愿望和理解，以建立他们的愿望，成为STEM领域的学士学位，获得研究生水平的STEM学位，和/或在生物或环境科学领域建立他们的职业生涯。

Abstract: LSAMP Broadening Participation Project: A REU Program for Native American, Pacific Islander, Hispanic American, and African American Students at Two Research Station in Costa RicaFor the last decade, the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) has offered summer research experiences for LSAMP undergraduates at its Las Cruces Research Station and La Selva Research Station in Costa Rica. The programs combine research and career mentorship from researchers at the OTS field sites, along with home mentors from the students' LSAMP institutions, to ensure the integration of the experience into the student's academic career. OTS will enhance the programs by 1) recruiting students from tribal, HBCUs, and other small two-year LSAMP-affiliated institutions where application and participation rates have been lowest, 2) establishing a cultural component to the program through the addition of cultural mentors and other visiting scholars, 3) initiating science communication and outreach training for students in both programs, and 4) providing the opportunity for students to leverage their research accomplishments through travel awards to attend scientific conferences. Finally, OTS will disseminate the students' achievements through the sponsorship of a symposium and the publication of an anthology. These efforts will showcase the rich experiences and successes LSAMP students have shared as well as expand the impact of the program by communicating strategies, successes, and best practices.The goal of the OTS LSAMP program is to provide hands-on, mentored-research experiences to undergraduate students from groups most underrepresented in the sciences. Specifically, OTS will continue to invite Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Hispanic American, and African American students to participate in Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) at the La Selva Research Station in Costa Rica's Caribbean lowland rainforest or the Las Cruces Research Station in southern Costa Rica (students self-select their preferred site). The scientific objectives of the LSAMP REU programs at Las Cruces and La Selva are to: 1) stimulate LSAMP students to pursue careers in biology and the environmental sciences; 2) establish a clear understanding of the scientific method; 3) clarify the importance of biological ecosystems, ecology as a science, and the role of science in conservation; and 4) increase student awareness of the ethical context of research in a local, regional as well as international setting. The Las Cruces and La Selva programs are eight-weeks in length and have evolved to provide LSAMP students with an ideal nurturing environment and scientific community for field research in tropical ecology. Both programs foster daily interactions among students and their researcher mentors. Both empower the students with ownership of their research projects and the confidence to live and work as scientists. In addition, through interactions with Costa Rican researchers, indigenous leaders, and community members, LSAMP students are exposed to different cultural and societal customs and norms as well as international perspectives. Most importantly, these programs require careful assembly of the students' on-campus mentors/faculty advisors who participate in the program and work with the students long after the summer program is over. Frequently, home mentors encourage the students to continue to present their work and even improve upon it during the school year. The active interaction of both research and on-campus mentors on the students' educational and career pathways can be significant and often have been transformational. An alumni survey of the decade-long program conducted in 2015 revealed that, as a direct result of the students' summer experience, 72% of the students gave an oral or poster presentation at a scientific conference, 19% co-authored a paper submitted to a scientific journal, and 13% co-authored a paper that was published in a scientific journal. The survey further documented that 24% had completed a two-year Associate's degree, 67% had completed a four-year a Bachelor's degree, 16% had completed a Master's degree, and 2% had completed a PhD., while two-thirds of alumni were still pursuing degrees in the life sciences or geosciences at the bachelor's level (24%), master's level (24%) or doctoral level (20%). Through the continuation of the OTS program, most-at-risk LSAMP students are receiving the knowledge, skills, confidence, desire, and understanding to build their aspirations into baccalaureate degrees in a STEM field, obtain graduate-level STEM degrees, and/or establish their careers in the biological or environmental sciences.