RCN-UBE Incubator: Network for the Integration of Natural History Collections in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences

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Undergraduate research increases student engagement, retention, and long-term success and is essential for building a scientifically literate and engaged workforce. The Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Course-based Research Experience (EEB-CURE) Network seeks to support the development of new course based undergraduate research experiences by leveraging the rapidly increasing availability of digitized natural history collections data. Embedding research experiences in biology and environmental science coursework is especially important for low income, first generation, and minority undergraduate students unable to dedicate time to research outside their normal course load due to personal and financial barriers. The EEB-CURE Network will create a community of undergraduate educators, natural history curators, education experts, and data experts who will explore how ecology and evolutionary biology classes can mine the hundreds of millions of data records being curated and served on web-based data portals such as iDigBio.org. The first stage of this project will identify the challenges associated with developing course-based research experiences using natural history specimen data and determine what resources and training opportunities are critical for development of these courses. Two surveys will be designed and distributed, one to assess the interest of biology educators in teaching CUREs using natural history collection data and the other to assess the interest of natural history collections professionals in collaborating with educators. The surveys will also investigate the training and resource needs of both groups. The project will recruit a diverse group of steering committee and network members who are passionate about the intersection of ecology, evolution, and natural history collections and who will actively promote the development of an upper-level biology CURE. Faculty members who teach high proportions of underrepresented minorities and first-generation college students will be especially encouraged to participate in the network. The culmination of the project will be a network meeting to review the results of the surveys and develop plans for training workshops, teaching materials, and collaboration opportunities to move the goals of the network forward. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).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.