UMEB: Human Impacts on Ecosystems of the Colorado Plateau

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0080156DrickamerNorthern Arizona University is combining ongoing Colorado Plateau researchinitiatives and a diverse student population to create an UndergraduateMentoring in Environmental Biology program. Seventeen faculty mentors arecommitted to work with seven community collaborators to recruit, train andpromote talented students for careers in environmental biology. Strongemphasis is placed on recruitment of Native Americans and HispanicAmericans. Selected students gain support and training through stipends,coursework, advising and mentoring. This program provides studentsopportunities to participate in cutting-edge research related to humanimpacts on ecosystems of the Colorado Plateau. Students work closely withfaculty mentors to pose hypotheses, design experiments, complete researchprojects, and disseminate results thorough oral presentations and publishedworks. Cohorts of UMEB seniors share their training with incoming cohortsand also act as mentors themselves to high school students involved in theGLOBE program and other NAU outreach activities. What are the impacts of climate change on the carbon balance of ColoradoPlateau ecosystems? How does livestock management influence productivityand diversity of Southwestern grasslands? Do mycorrhizae functiondifferently in traditional Native American maize and high-input maize?Research on these questions and many more are being advanced by UMEBstudents and their faculty mentors. Another important outcome of thisprogram is that it increases the number of Native American and HispanicAmerican environmental biologists. These professionals will be particularly wellqualified to contribute expertise towards ameliorating many of the complexenvironmental problems on the Colorado Plateau and throughout the nation.