REU Site: Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Field Research at Mountain Lake Biological Station

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This REU Site award to Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS.org, University of Virginia), located in Pembroke, VA, will support the training of ten students for ten weeks during the summers of 2020 - 2022. It is anticipated that a total of thirty college and university undergraduate students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, or belonging to groups under-represented in science, will participate in the program. Participants will be trained in the full process of scientific biological research, from thesis generation, to hypothesis building, experimental design and execution, analysis, interpretation, and communication. Many participants will present their work at scientific confernces and publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals. All participants will emerge as scientifically literate citizens. Assessment of the program will be done thru the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. Mountain Lake has hosted a NSF REU Sites program since 1993.The project supports guided but independent, self-motivated original biological research in field-based ecology, evolution, and behavior. Many university-based research labs working at the host field station will mentor program participants in a wide range of biological research areas (see past student research projects - mlbs.org/pastprojects). Participants live and work full-time at the biological field station. In addition to conducting their original independent research projects, they participate in formal training in the design and conduct of research, scientific ethics and professional behavior, writing and presentation techniques, and other matters of scientific and academic life. They are required to prepare professional grade written and oral proposals and final reports. The program includes post-program career support, research mentor trainng, peer mentoring, and three institutional partners (University of Puerto Rico, UVA College at Wise, Nash Community College). The program application (mlbs.org/reuapp) requires a personal essay, college transcript, and letter of recommendation. Project PIs and research mentors evaluate applications. Research areas for the upcoming summer are provided to applicants (mlbs.org/REUFutureProjects). More information about the program is available by visiting mlbs.org/reuprogram, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Eric Nagy at enagy@virginia.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Butch Brodie at bbrodie@virginia.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.