RCN-UBE: The BUZZ: Engaging Community College Students in Native Bee Biodiversity Research

RCN-UBE：嗡嗡声：让社区大学生参与本地蜜蜂生物多样性研究将在RCN-UBE孵化器项目“校园作为生活实验室”的成功基础上，扩大来自少数民族服务机构（MSIs）和支持组织的教育工作者网络，为代表性不足的学生开发生物学本科研究经验（UREs）。参与的学生将在参与教师的指导下获得实地研究的实践经验，同时支持当地的生物多样性和生态系统。这个项目将为学生提供一个难得的机会，与美国和国际边界的同龄人分享蜜蜂数据和分析技能。除了对直接参与的学生的教育效益外，该项目还将推动更广泛的保护研究工作，同时为两年制MSI学院的本科生研究建立一个可复制的项目模式。该项目的主要目标包括从至少15所MSI社区学院招募约45名STEM教师，并吸引至少500名学生。学生将利用校园作为“生活实验室”进行实地研究，调查、收集、记录和分析有关本地蜜蜂物种和当地生态系统的信息。教师将根据他们的专业知识、机构文化和学生的兴趣和需求选择不同的教育途径。这些措施包括在校园和社区中丰富栖息地，以及实施基于课程的本科生研究体验（CURE）。这些努力将努力通过发展一个广泛的栖息地网络来稳定本地蜜蜂的多样性，从而产生有弹性的超种群。项目主办的年度Zoom会议将允许学生展示他们的发现并阐明科学概念。教师将参与持续的专业发展，并在活动实施方面得到实地专家的支持。双语交付成果将包括供其他学院复制的蓝图，包括完善的专业发展材料、与国家数据库整合数据的步骤、学生参与和栖息地丰富。该项目具有很高的可持续性，因为它的入门成本低，教师驱动的毅力，以及在整个过程中努力参与行政领导。该项目由生物基础设施司生物科学理事会和本科教育司STEM教育理事会共同资助，作为他们应对本科生物学教育的愿景和变化：行动呼吁（http://visionandchange/finalreport/）所带来的挑战的努力的一部分。该项目由IUSE：创新两年制大学STEM教育（ITYC）计划共同资助。该项目还得到了美国国家科学基金会IUSE：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI）计划的支持，该计划的目标是提高STEM本科教育的质量，提高攻读STEM副学士学位或学士学位的学生的招聘、保留和毕业率。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

RCN-UBE: The BUZZ: Engaging Community College Students in Native Bee Biodiversity Research will build upon the success of the RCN-UBE Incubator project, Campus as a Living Lab, to expand a network of educators from Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and supporting organizations to develop biology undergraduate research experiences (UREs) for underrepresented students. Students involved will gain practical experience in field research under the mentorship of participating faculty while supporting local biodiversity and ecosystems. This project will provide students with a rare opportunity to develop and share bee data and analysis skills with peers across U.S. and international borders. Beyond the educational benefits to students directly involved, the project will advance broader conservation research efforts while establishing a replicable program model for undergraduate research at two-year MSI colleges.Key objectives for the project include recruiting an estimated 45 STEM faculty members for the network from at least 15 MSI community colleges and engaging at least 500 students. Students will conduct authentic field research using their campuses as “Living Labs” to investigate, collect, document, and analyze information about native bee species and local ecosystems. Faculty will select different educational pathways based on their expertise, institutional culture, and student interests and needs. These include habitat enrichment on campus and in the community and implementing a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE). These efforts will strive to stabilize native bee diversity by developing an extensive network of habitat pockets resulting in resilient metapopulations. A project-hosted annual Zoom conference will allow students to present their findings and articulate scientific concepts. Faculty will be involved in continuous professional development and receive support from field experts for activity implementation. Bilingual deliverables will include a blueprint for other colleges to replicate, including refined professional development materials, steps for data integration with national databases, student engagement, and habitat enrichment. The project is highly sustainable due to its low cost of entry, faculty-driven perseverance, and efforts to engage administrative leadership throughout the process. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Directorate for STEM Education, Division of Undergraduate Education, as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed by Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/). This project is co-funded by the IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC) program. This project is also supported by the NSF IUSE: Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) program, which has the goals of enhancing the quality of undergraduate STEM education, and increasing the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing associate’s or baccalaureate degrees in STEM.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.