REU: Natural History of a Tropical Fauna

该奖项将支持每年10名本科生参加西南密苏里州州立大学提供的本科生研究经验计划。这是一个令人兴奋的计划，提供了在热带研究的研究经验的机会。参与者将通过与教师互动来学习和发展研究技能，因为他们在墨西哥从事与热带脊椎动物社区有关的项目。为了促进学生的发展，计划分三个阶段进行：1）定向-向学生介绍墨西哥的研究方法和生态研究; 2）学徒-发展技能; 3）个人研究-产生出版质量报告。包括关于研究和研究生学习的研讨会，以促进将获得的知识和技能应用于参与者未来的学术追求;美国和墨西哥的科学家将作专题介绍。教师导师将“指导”学生，通过解释科学规则和提供一种兴奋的感觉来解决问题的概念方向灌输研究的愿景。该计划的主题或重点是脊椎动物群落。为了利用教师的专业知识，将鼓励学生选择涉及鱼类，两栖动物，爬行动物或哺乳动物的项目，尽管其他生物的研究是可能的。调查可以解决生态位的尺寸，行为，寄生虫感染，或系统学方面。学生可以在这些主题中选择项目或开发自己的调查。该奖项将促进个人的继续教育和培训，他们将成为下一代热带生态学基础研究人员的一部分。随着全球关注生物多样性的丧失，特别是在热带地区，这是一个对可持续经济发展，实际上对许多发展中国家的文化生存至关重要的领域。

This award will support the participation of 10 undergraduate students each year in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program offered by Southwestern Missouri State University. This is an exciting program that offers opportunities for research experience in tropical studies. Participants will learn and develop research skills by interacting with faculty as they work on projects dealing with tropical vertebrate communities in Mexico. To foster student development, a three-phase program is planned: 1) Orientation - introducing students to research methodology and ecological studies in Mexico; 2) Apprenticeship - developing skills; and 3) Individual research - resulting in publication-quality reports. Seminars on research and graduate studies are included to facilitate applications of acquired knowledge and skills to participants' future academic pursuits; presentations will be made by scientists in both the United States and Mexico. Faculty mentors will "coach" students, instilling a vision of research by explaining the rules of science and delivering a feeling of the excitement that comes with addressing questions with conceptual orientations. The theme or focus of the program is vertebrate communities. To capitalize on faculty expertise, students will be encouraged to choose projects involving fishes, amphibians, reptiles, or mammals, although studies of other organisms are possible. Investigations may address aspects of niche dimensions, behavior, parasitic infections, or systematics. Students may choose projects within these topics or develop investigations of their own. This award will foster the continued education and training of individuals who will be part of the next generation of basic researchers in tropical ecology. With global attention focused of the loss of biodiversity , especially in the tropics, this is an area of critical concern for the sustained economic development and, in fact, the cultural survival of many developing nations.