An International Experience for Undergraduates: Australia Biodiversity and Ecological Research

SheppardOISE-0436605该奖项支持一个项目，“澳大利亚生物多样性和生态研究本科生的国际研究经验”。主要研究人员是新墨西哥州大学的乌苏拉·谢泼德和A.约书亚莱弗勒，路易斯安那理工大学。 在澳大利亚，两个CSIRO（联邦科学工业研究组织）设施（达尔文和阿瑟顿）和吕宋岛研究站，这是澳大利亚博物馆的一部分，将接待学生。 来自新墨西哥大学和路易斯安那理工大学的14名本科生和1名研究生将在2006年夏天花一个月的时间进行实地研究和参观各种生态系统，包括亚热带雨林、热带稀树草原、热带雨林和堡礁岛屿。 该奖项建立在NSF国际科学与工程办公室的两个早期赠款的基础上，并在此基础上进行了扩展，该赠款支持了美国学生在澳大利亚的暑期研究所。 这个新的奖项支持实地研究计划，教授科学过程，生态研究技术和澳大利亚的自然历史。 本课程的重点是培养学生在生物多样性评估和保护方面的能力。本课程的目标是通过教授从概念到出版的研究过程，为学生未来的研究工作做好准备。 这一目标将通过启动由教师，谁将教与现场生态学和生物多样性相关的技术专门指导项目的学生来实现。 然后，学生将继续围绕生物多样性的具体问题设计更复杂的项目。 最后，学生将设计，进行，分析，撰写，并提出他们选择的最终项目。 学生还将了解热带植物群和动物群以及各种保护项目。 该计划的目标是本科生在他们的学术生涯早期，谁是不太可能有机会在国外做实地研究，生物和其他专业的学生。

SheppardOISE-0436605This award supports a project, "International Research Experience for Undergraduates in Australia Biodiversity and Ecological Research." The principal investigators are Ursula Sheppard, University of New Mexico (UNM), and A. Joshua Leffler, Louisiana Tech University. In Australia, two CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation) facilities (Darwin and Atherton) and the Lizard Island Research Station, which is part of the Australia Museum, will host the students. Fourteen undergraduates and one graduate student from UNM and Louisiana Tech will spend one month in the summer of 2006 engaged in field research and visits to various ecosystems, including subtropical rain forest, tropical savanna, tropical rain forest, and barrier-reef islands. This award builds on and expands upon two earlier grants from the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering that supported a summer institute for U.S. students in Australia. This new award supports a field research program that teaches the scientific process, ecological research techniques, and natural history in Australia. It will focus on training students in biodiversity assessment and conservation.The goal of this program is to prepare students for future research endeavors by teaching the research process from conception to publication. This goal will be accomplished by starting students on projects specifically directed by faculty, who will teach techniques related to field ecology and biodiversity. Students will then progress to more complex projects designed around specific questions in biodiversity. Finally, students will design, conduct, analyze, write up, and present a final project of their choosing. Students will also learn about tropical flora and fauna and various conservation projects. The program targets undergraduates early in their academic career, students who are unlikely to have the opportunity to do field research abroad, and biology and other majors.