REU Site: Indigenous America to Indigenous Mekong - Adventures in Biology and Biodiversity

位于阿肯色州费耶特维尔的阿肯色大学获得REU SITE奖(由国际科学与工程办公室共同资助)，将在2018-2020年夏季支持8名学生为期10周的培训。研究将在东南亚湄公河流域下游的两个国家进行，特别是越南和泰国(隔年进行)。学生将从事气候科学、微生物学、民族植物学、水生生物学(鱼类、微藻和水生植物)、生物燃料科学和小型哺乳动物生态方面的研究项目。总体主题与食品、能源和水系统有关。学生将接受在研究、实验室和现场安全以及科学写作方面负责任的行为培训。美国公民、美国国民或永久居民的学生有资格申请。虽然GPA和学业成绩将是选择的一个考虑因素，但我们强烈鼓励任何具有高潜力的本科生，特别是来自经济困难社区的本科生，以及来自历史上在科学界代表性不足的群体的本科生，无论GPA如何，都可以申请。预计共有24名学生将在该计划中接受培训，这些学生主要来自研究机会有限的学校。学生将学习研究是如何进行的，许多人将在科学会议上展示他们的工作成果。我们的目标是利用这一现场计划作为一种提高学生理论和技术技能的方法，以促进STEM学士课程的顺利完成，以及在各自研究领域录取研究生计划或进入成功的职业生涯。由生物基础设施部资助的所有REU现场计划都将使用一个通用的基于网络的评估工具来确定培训计划的有效性。项目结束后，将对学生进行跟踪，以确定他们的职业道路。学生将被要求回复通过NSF报告系统发送的自动电子邮件。有关这方面的更多信息，请访问http://fulbright.uark.edu/departments/biology/undergraduate/mekong-reu或直接联系国际组织(Ruben Michael Ceballos博士，电子邮件：ceballos@uark.edu)。

This REU Site award (co-funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering) to the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, AR, will support the training of 8 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2018-2020. Research will be conducted in two countries of the Lower Mekong Basin in Southeast Asia, specifically, Vietnam and Thailand (in alternating years). Students will engage in projects focused on research in climate science, microbiology, ethnobotany, aquatic biology (fish, microalgae, and aquatic plants), biofuels sciences, and small mammal ecology. The overarching theme relates to Food, Energy, and Water systems. Students will receive training in responsible conduct in research, lab and field safety, and scientific writing. Students who are U.S. citizens, US nationals, or permanent residents are eligible to apply. Although GPA and academic performance will be one factor considered in selection, any high-potential undergraduates especially those from economically-disadvantaged communities and those from groups which have been historically underrepresented in the sciences are strongly encouraged to apply regardless of GPA. It is anticipated that a total of 24 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. The goal is to use this Site program as a method of enhancing the theoretical and technical skills of the students to facilitate successful completion of bachelor's programs in STEM and either admissions into graduate programs or entry into successful careers in their respective fields of study.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 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 this is available by visiting http://fulbright.uark.edu/departments/biology/undergraduate/mekong-reu or by directly contacting the PI (Dr. Ruben Michael Ceballos at ceballos@uark.edu).