REU Site: Genes & the Environment: Research Experiences for Undergraduates from Rural & Tribal Colleges

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This REU Site award to the University of North Dakota (UND), located in Grand Forks, ND, will support the training of 12 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2019-2022. Research will be conducted under the mentorship of UND faculty in the Departments of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. Mentors will work closely with students to develop an independent research project. Examples of projects include investigation into how environmentally determined changes in gene expression influence learning in fish, sex-determination in turtles, stress tolerance in nematodes, and wing patterning in moths. Students will receive training in cell biology, development, genetics, molecular biology, neuroscience, and systems biology. In addition to hands-on research, students attend weekly research seminars and workshops about science writing and presentations, responsible conduct of research, ethics and sexual harassment. Students present their findings at a symposium. Participants are provided a stipend, room and board, and travel funds. Subsidized child care is provided by UND to students with dependents. Students from groups historically underrepresented in the sciences are encouraged to apply. Selection criteria include academic performance and educational and career goals. Applications are evaluated by the PI and mentoring faculty.It is anticipated that a total of 48 students, primarily from rural and tribal 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 primary mission of the program is to encourage students to pursue graduate degrees in the sciences and enter careers in science education, research, and literacy. This program will help strengthen ties with rural and tribal colleges. 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 http://ndinbre.org/NSF-REU/, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Van Doze at van.doze@und.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.