REU Site: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Virginia's Blandy Experimental Farm

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This REU Site award to University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville, VA, will support the training of 10 students for 11 weeks during the summers of 2017- 2021. The program will be conducted at University of Virginia's Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce, VA. Students will carry out research in ecology or evolutionary biology, with many projects focusing on the impacts of human activities. The study organisms for most projects will be plants and/or insects. Questions students may investigate include, for example, the effects of pharmaceuticals in sewage on aquatic invertebrates and effects of urbanization on native bee colonies. Students will carry out research in the field, lab, or greenhouse, analyze their data, and present their results through a scientific poster, a final written report, and an oral presentation. Students will also attend workshops on topics such as gaining admission to graduate school and research ethics. Interested undergraduates are encouraged to apply, especially students from non-research colleges, students from underrepresented ethnic groups, and students at an early academic stage. Applications must be submitted using the program's online application system (https://sites.google.com/site/blandyreu/apply). Faculty mentors will select participants based on several aspects: compatibility of student-mentor research interests, relevance of undergraduate coursework, degree of academic achievement, and qualifications described in letters of recommendation. It is anticipated that a total of 10 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Students will also learn how to teach young children aspects of their research.A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU Site programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program 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 https://sites.google.com/site/blandyreu/ , or by contacting the PI (Dr. Kyle Haynes at haynes@virginia.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Mary McKenna at mmckenna@howard.edu).