REU Site: Tropical Ecology and Evolution at El Verde Field Station, Puerto Rico

该REU网站授予波多黎各大学圣胡安分校，将在2016年至2020年夏季为8名学生提供为期10周的培训。研究是在位于波多黎各埃尔尤克国家森林的埃尔弗德野外站进行的。该计划的重点是热带生态学和进化——研究植物种群生物学、河流生态学和水生昆虫动力学、森林生态学、节肢动物生物学和热带雨林的共同进化。El Verde是该计划的运作基地，也是许多热带研究人员和Luquillo LTER计划的基地。学生们在教师导师的建议下开发独立的项目，把大部分时间花在进行研究和参加关于科学数据分析和研究热带系统技术的研讨会和讲习班上。该计划还提供相关主题的研讨会，例如研究生院申请流程。负责任的科学行为部分也提供了讨论学生在其职业生涯中经常遇到的问题。学生的选择是基于他们的研究兴趣、学习成绩和在生物科学领域的杰出研究潜力。项目负责人列出一份简短的名单，导师做出最后的选择。预计总共将有40名学生，主要来自研究机会有限的学校，将接受该项目的培训。本课程主要面向对生态研究和研究生学习感兴趣的学生。学生将学习如何进行研究，许多人将在科学会议上展示他们的工作成果，有些人将在同行评审的期刊上发表他们的工作成果。由生物基础设施司（生物科学理事会）资助的所有REU项目使用的通用网络评估工具将用于确定培训计划的有效性。课程结束后，将对学生进行跟踪，以确定学生的职业道路。学生将被要求回复通过NSF报告系统自动发送的电子邮件。每年12月开始接受申请。欲了解更多信息，请访问http://reu.ites.upr.edu/或联系PI（拉米雷斯博士reu@ites.upr.edu）。

This REU Site award to the University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, will support the training of eight students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2016 - 2020. Research is conducted at El Verde Field Station, located at El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico. The program focuses on Tropical Ecology and Evolution -- the study of plant population biology, stream ecology and aquatic insect dynamics, forest ecology, arthropod biology, and coevolution in tropical rainforest. El Verde is the base of operations of the program and of many tropical researchers and the Luquillo LTER program. Students develop independent projects under the advice of faculty mentors, spending most of their time conducting research and attending seminars and workshops on scientific data analysis and techniques to study tropical systems. The program also provides workshops on relevant topics, such as graduate school application process. A responsible conduct in science component is also provided to discuss issues commonly encountered by students during their careers. Student selection is based on their research interest, academic record, and potential for outstanding research in biological sciences. The project PI makes a short list and mentors make the final selection.It is anticipated that a total of 40 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. This program focuses on students with interest in ecological research and in pursuing graduate studies. Students will learn how research is conducted, many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences, and some will publish their work in peer-reviewed journals.A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (Directorate for Biological Sciences) will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine student career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. Applications are accepted starting in December every year. More information is available by visiting http://reu.ites.upr.edu/ or by contacting the PI (Dr. Ramirez at reu@ites.upr.edu).