REU Site: Research experiences for undergraduates in coastal biology on Florida's first coast

REU 网站：佛罗里达州第一海岸的沿海生物学本科生研究经历

• 批准号: 2244665
• 负责人: Matthew Gilg
• 金额: $ 40.85万
• 依托单位: University of North Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-15 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2244665&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Research; experiences; undergraduates

The University of North Florida's (UNF) Dept. of Biology will host a REU Site Program focused on the field of Coastal Ocean Sciences. The project will bring ten undergraduates to the UNF campus each summer for three years to complete a 10-week internship. The overall goal of the program is to enhance the training and career development of early stage (rising Sophomores and Juniors) undergraduate students who have not had significant research experience by engaging them in the research and culture of this important field. Students will be recruited each summer from a variety of urban universities (including a partnering Historically Black College, Edward Waters College). Other partnering organizations include the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, South-East Zoo Alliance for Reproduction and Conservation, and the Jacksonville Zoo.Research topics for interns will be offered in three general areas, including 1) Ecology and conservation of coastal and marine organisms, 2) Genetic, molecular and structural biology of coastal and marine organisms, and 3) Behavior of coastal and marine organisms. All participants will complete a one-week orientation during which they will receive training in basic research skills like conducting literature reviews, dissecting scientific papers, developing hypotheses, designing experiments, writing proposals, and ethical research practices. Afterwards, students will be paired with biologists from UNF or collaborating institutions to conduct mentored research projects on major threats to coastal biological resources in North Florida. During the program, participating students will complete two formal writing assignments (a short research proposal and an Abstract) and give both an oral and a poster presentation. Students will also be encouraged to present their research findings at professional conferences and/or in manuscripts submitted to professional journals. Additional career guidance on topics such as designing research posters, scientific writing, finding and applying to graduate schools, common types of jobs in coastal biology, and presenting scientific information to a public audience will be provided in workshops throughout the summer program. Students will attend regular research seminars by UNF faculty, graduate students and previous REU participants that have recently received graduate degrees. A strong evaluation plan has been developed to determine if the anticipated results of the program (i.e., improvements in understanding of the scientific research process, confidence in research related abilities, awareness of academic and career options in science, and retention and graduate school acceptance of students, especially underrepresented minorities) are achieved as they have been in previous years.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.

北佛罗里达大学（UNF）系。生物学将主办一个REU网站计划侧重于沿海海洋科学领域。该项目将在三年内每年夏天让10名本科生到联合国基金会校园完成为期10周的实习。该计划的总体目标是通过让他们参与这一重要领域的研究和文化，加强早期（上升的大二和大三）本科生的培训和职业发展。每年夏天，学生将从各种城市大学（包括合作的历史黑人学院，爱德华沃茨学院）招募。其他合作组织包括Guana Tolomato马坦萨斯国家河口研究保护区，东南动物园繁殖和保护联盟，以及杰克逊维尔动物园。实习生的研究课题将提供三个一般领域，包括1）沿海和海洋生物的生态学和保护，2）沿海和海洋生物的遗传，分子和结构生物学，（3）海岸和海洋生物的行为。所有参与者将完成为期一周的方向，在此期间，他们将接受基本研究技能的培训，如进行文献综述，剖析科学论文，发展假设，设计实验，撰写提案和道德研究实践。之后，学生将与联合国基金会或合作机构的生物学家配对，就北佛罗里达沿海生物资源的主要威胁进行指导性研究项目。在课程期间，参与的学生将完成两个正式的写作作业（一个简短的研究建议和摘要），并给出口头和海报演示。还将鼓励学生在专业会议和/或提交给专业期刊的手稿中展示他们的研究成果。关于主题的其他职业指导，如设计研究海报，科学写作，寻找和申请研究生院，沿海生物学中常见的工作类型，以及向公众展示科学信息，将在整个夏季计划的研讨会上提供。学生将参加联合国基金会教师，研究生和最近获得研究生学位的以前的REU参与者定期举行的研究研讨会。已经制定了一个强有力的评估计划，以确定该计划的预期结果（即，提高对科学研究过程的理解，对研究相关能力的信心，对科学学术和职业选择的认识，以及学生的保留和研究生院接受程度，特别是代表性不足的少数群体）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。