REU Site: Advancing Undergraduate Research Among Minorities in Plant Biology Enrolled in an Urban Community College

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This REU Site award to Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) located in New York, NY, will support the training of eight students for eight weeks during each of the summers of 2019-2021. Student research focuses on bioactivity of natural products at different biological levels of organization (e.g., the potential antioxidant capacity of natural plant products used in different cultural groups, the effects of natural extracts on microorganisms in fresh water and marine environments with changing salinity, in regulating genes involved in differentiation of cells, and in potential protective effects on growth of mammalian cells). Students will receive training in all aspects of the scientific method including biostatistics, and workshops in professional development including scientific communication (oral presentations, scientific writing), lab safety, ethics/responsible conduct of research and STEM careers. Field trips to internationally recognized botanical gardens, an agricultural experiment station and an herb farm will introduce students to sources of many natural extracts, with emphasis on research in plant sciences and networking opportunities. The program culminates with each student preparing a research paper and giving an oral presentation on their individual research. It is anticipated that a total of 24 students primarily from underrepresented groups from community colleges with limited research opportunities will be trained in the program. Students will learn how to conduct research, develop professional skills, and may present their work at scientific conferences. With community colleges accounting for more than half of all undergraduate enrollments, the BMCC REU program may serve as a national model for other two-year institutions involved in STEM research which seek to encourage and facilitate transfer of STEM majors to four-year institutions. 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 the program is available by visiting https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/gra/page.jsp?pid=1080&n=REU, or by contacting the PI Adolfina Koroch (akoroch@bmcc.cuny.edu) or the Co-PI Alexander Gosslau (agosslau@bmcc.cuny.edu).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.