UMEB: Introducing Southern Californian Students to the Problems of a Changing Environment

加州州立大学富勒顿分校（CSUF）是一所少数族裔和西班牙裔服务机构，将围绕理解南加州生态系统变化的生态学和环境生物学的总体主题，开展环境生物学本科生指导（UMEB）项目。本科生的多方面教育经验将促进少数民族和城市长大的学生更多地参与环境生物学，增加他们进行实地研究的机会，使他们接触到环境生物学的广度和跨学科性质，向他们介绍环境生物学职业的多样性，并培养学生和教师的指导技能。在为期四年的项目期间，学生将研究南加州三种截然不同的生态系统的环境问题，这些生态系统受到人类入侵的影响（沙漠、山麓和沿海湿地）。UMEB的学者将在大一或大二的春季被招募，参加一个密集的实地课程，并在那个夏天完成指导的研究项目。为期4周的课程将汇集学生、教师和其他专业环境生物学家，深入研究人类活动对三个目标生态系统的影响。在此之后，学生将根据共同的兴趣、指导需求和可用的研究机会与教师导师进行匹配，每个人都将成为导师研究小组的重要成员。学生将与教师导师合作开发并完成一个为期两年的独立研究项目，最终完成一篇毕业论文。他们的研究成果也将在地方、区域和国家会议上提出。在整个项目中，经验丰富的学者将担任同伴导师，以提高学生的领导技能，并发展UMEB学者之间的联系。该计划旨在发展一个以环境生物学为导向的本科社区，提供一个强大的同伴支持网络，让学生沉浸在环境研究的文化中，同时为他们在环境生物学的职业生涯做好准备。更多信息，请联系Bill Hoese （bhoese@fullerton.edu）或访问http://biology.fullerton.edu/scerp/index.html。

California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), a minority and Hispanic-serving institution, will conduct an Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) program revolving around an overall theme of understanding the ecology and environmental biology of changing southern California ecosystems. The multifaceted educational experience for undergraduates will foster greater participation of minority and urban-raised students in environmental biology, increase their opportunities to conduct field research, expose them to the breadth and interdisciplinary nature of environmental biology, introduce them to the diversity of careers available in environmental biology, and develop both student and faculty mentoring skills. Over the 4-year project period, students will research environmental issues in three distinctly different ecosystems affected by human encroachment in southern California (desert, foothill, and coastal wetlands). UMEB scholars will be recruited during the spring of their freshman or sophomore year to participate in an intensive field-based course and complete supervised research projects during that summer. The 4-week course will bring together students, faculty members, and other professional environmental biologists for in-depth study of the effects of human activities in the three targeted ecosystems. Following this, students will be matched with a faculty mentor based on mutual interests, mentoring needs, and available research opportunities, and each will become an integral member of the mentor's research group. Students will develop and complete a two-year independent research project done in collaboration with a faculty mentor, culminating in a senior thesis. Results of their research will also be presented at local, regional and national conferences. Scholars will meet weekly to work on group-oriented activities and career development, and throughout the program, the more experienced scholars will serve as peer mentors to enhance student leadership skills and develop bonds among the UMEB scholars. The program aims to develop an environmental biology-oriented undergraduate community that provides a strong peer-support network, and immerses students into the culture of environmental research while preparing them for careers in environmental biology. For more information, contact Bill Hoese (bhoese@fullerton.edu) or visit http://biology.fullerton.edu/scerp/index.html.