REU Site: University of Maryland Eastern Shore Research Experience for Undergraduates in Marine and Estuarine Science

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This REU Site award to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, located in Princess Anne, MD, will support the training of 8 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2021- 2023. It is anticipated that a total of 24 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities or from an under-represented group, will be trained in the program. The program will target rising sophomores and rising juniors. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Assessment of the program will be done through the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.The intellectual focus of the REU program is on marine and estuarine science, particularly in coastal lagoons. Students will have opportunities to work on a variety of research projects, such as eutrophication effects on benthic macroinvertebrates, mechanisms of biofilm formation and antifouling effects of extracts from natural sources, climate variability and food web dynamics, antibiotic resistance of Vibrio species isolated from oysters, and biology and ecology of gelatinous zooplankton. The program will provide rigorous education via faculty mentorship on research; weekly workshops, discussions and seminars on valuable science topics; field trips that provide an educationally enriching experience; a final research report; and oral and poster presentations by the students at the end-of-program symposium. Professional development activities will include training in GIS and scientific ethics/responsible conduct of research. Program assessment will occur by administering questionnaires to students. Students will be recruited using electronic e-mail, list serves and fliers that will be distributed to targeted schools. Students will be selected based on their application materials that will include a standard on-line application and cumulative grade point average, essays describing their research interests and career goals, two letters of recommendation, and official academic transcripts. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale will be required. More information about the program is available by visiting https://www.umes.edu/reu, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Paulinus Chigbu at pchigbu@umes.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Margaret Sexton at masexton@umes.edu). This REU Site is supported by the Division of Oceanic Sciences (OCE) in the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), the Division of Human Resources Development (HRD) in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), and the Division for Biological Infrastructure (DBI) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO).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.