REU Site: Collections-Based Research Experiences for Undergraduates at The Academy of Natural Sciences

自然科学学院本科生研究经验(REU)Fellowhsip的目的是为本科生提供自然历史博物馆环境下基于收藏的研究经验，以努力招募新的年轻研究人员，以攻读有机体和系统生物学领域的高级学位。学院的REU项目填补了传统本科培训的空白，为那些可能没有接触到系统学、进化和生物生物学领域的研究的学生提供了在博物馆环境中的多样化和令人兴奋的研究体验。该计划的另一个目标是吸引未得到充分服务的少数族裔加入我们的计划，并促进生物研究各个领域的多样性。学生通过互联网上的广告和直接邮寄从全国各地的学院和大学招募。历史悠久的黑人学院和大学(HBCU)的学生是招生的优先事项，而与HBCU的教职员工直接接触是为了吸引少数族裔申请者。每年，根据学业成绩、对生物生物学的总体兴趣和两名裁判的评估，挑选八名学生参加为期10周的暑期奖学金。在为期一周的介绍性课程之后，学生们将参观所有的藏品和学术设施，并在博士科学家的指导下从事一个独立的研究项目。研究项目的主题从使用传统形态和分子技术的系统生物学，到生态学、流域监测和科学收藏史。学生通过与馆长和资深科学家并肩工作来获得经验，并参与以收藏为基础的研究的方方面面，包括收集和收藏标本、实地考察以及以口头和书面形式传播结果。大多数学生在同行评议的科学期刊上发表论文。学生们还可以从各种集体活动中受益，包括每周一次的研讨会、社交聚会、露营旅行和夏末宴会。对于正规的生物生物学教育，像科学院这样的自然历史博物馆正变得越来越重要，因为总的来说，学院和大学生物系越来越倾向于细胞和分子研究。由于生物学教学重点的这种转变，致力于基于收藏、分类学和生态学研究的专家数量有所下降。通过学院的REU奖学金，本科生在生物生物学方面获得了宝贵的经验和教育，这是他们在本科院校可能得不到的。大多数学生发表他们的研究结果，大多数参与者根据他们在学院的REU经验选择从事系统学和生物生物学的职业。向服务不足的少数群体提供本科生研究机会的另一个好处是，增加了攻读生物科学高级学位的学生的多样性，这一变化有望反映在未来科学研究界的多样性增加上。

The purpose of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Fellowhsip at The Academy of Natural Sciences is to provide undergraduates with experience in collections-based research in a natural history museum environment in an effort to recruit new young researchers to pursue advanced degrees in the field of organismal and systematic biology. The REU program at the Academy fills a gap in traditional undergraduate training by providing a diverse and exciting research experience in a museum environment for students who may not be exposed to a research in the areas of systematics, evolution, and organismal biology. An additional goal of the program is to attract underserved minorities to our program and promote diversity in all areas of biological research.Students are recruited from colleges and universites from around the country through advertisements on the Internet and through direct mailing. Students at historically black colleges and universites (HBCU's) are a recruiting priority and direct contact with faculty at HBCU's is used to attract minority applicants. Each year, eight students are chosen on the basis of academic performance, overall interest in organismal biology, and the evaluations of two referees, for a 10-week summer fellowship. After a one-week introductory session in which students receive tours of all collections and academy facilities, students work on an independent research project with a Ph.D. scientist as his or her mentor. Topics for research projects range from systematic biology using traditional morphological and molecular techniques, to ecology, watershed monitoring, and the history of scientific collections. Students gain experience by working side-by-side with curators and senior scientists and are involved in all aspects of collections-based research including collection and curation of specimens, field expeditions, and dissemination of results orally and in a written paper. Most students publish their papers in peer reviewed scientific journals. Students also benefit from a variety of group activities including weekly seminars, social gatherings, a camping trip, and end-of-summer banquet.Natural history museums such as the Academy are becoming increasingly important for formal education in organismal biology because college and university biology departments are, on the whole, becoming more oriented toward cellular and molecular research. Because of this shift in emphasis in biology teaching there is a decline in numbers of specialists dedicated to collections-based, taxonomic and ecological research. Through the REU fellowship at the Academy undergraduate students gain valuable experience and education in organismal biology that they might not obtain at their undergraduate institution. Most students publish the results of their research and a majority of participants choose to pursue careers in systematics and organismal biology based on their REU experience at the Academy. Providing opportunities for undergraduate research to underserved minorities has the added benefit of increasing the diversity of students pursuing advanced degrees in the biological sciences, a change that will hopefully be reflected in an increase in the diversity of the scientific research community of the future.