REU Site: Early research experience for undergraduates in coastal biology on Florida's first coast

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The University of North Florida (UNF), located in Jacksonville, FL, will host a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site that will provide ten students with a 10-week active learning experience each summer for three years. The overall goal of the program is to enhance the training and career development of early stage (rising Sophomores and Juniors) undergraduate students who have not had prior research experience by engaging them in research on coastal biology. The program includes a one-week orientation and one-on-one mentoring for research projects. Students will also participate in professional development activities, complete a formal writing assignment and give both an oral and a poster presentation. Students will be encouraged to present their research findings at professional conferences and/or in manuscripts submitted to professional journals. The UNF REU Site will provide a total of thirty undergraduates with research internships over the three-year period. The program conducts a national search for applicants and seeks to engage students who are from schools with limited research opportunities. Most of the funding provided supports student stipends, housing and travel to attend the program. The focus of potential research projects for REU students at UNF includes growing threats to coastal ecosystems in Florida, such as anthropogenic pollution, invasive species, harmful algal blooms, impacts to fisheries, and habitat alteration. Students may also study basic physiology (e.g., ion exchange mechanisms, patterns of gene expression) and/or ecology (e.g., food web interactions, range shifts, hybridization) of coastal organisms in an effort to understand, among other things, how anthropogenic changes to coastal habitats alter these factors and influence coastal wildlife populations. Through their mentored research experiences paired with specific skills training sessions, students will gain an understanding of important issues in coastal biology and coastal environmental system. This project supports national goals of developing the next generation of scientists and the scientific workforce.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.