REU Site: Ecology and Behavior of Honey Bees and Solitary Bees

俄克拉荷马中央大学REU网站将在2009-2012年夏季为本科生提供一个研究项目。每年将选出六名学生参加一个为期八周的密集研究项目，该项目涉及来自美国、保加利亚、希腊和土耳其的一个国际科学家团队的合作。我们提出了以蜜蜂和独居蜜蜂为模型系统的行为和生态假说。我们解决的问题本质上是基本的，但与我们工作地区的应用(农业)系统有明显的相关性。具体地说，我们讨论了与授粉系统中的入侵物种密切相关的主题，觅食蜜蜂的决策，以及受环境因素影响的蜜蜂的学习模式。这些研究直接应用于欧亚大陆的作物授粉和养蜂业，在那里，我们研究的蜜蜂和独居蜜蜂都是本地的。在前往该项目的实地部分之前，学生将沉浸在为期一周的课程中，重点是实验设计以及科学的历史和本质；学生还参与出版过程，并在他们走向研究生学习的过程中得到支持。我们打算支持一代科学家，他们了解发展中国家以及人类文化多样性和智力创新之间的关系。因此，学生们参加丰富活动，包括接触人类历史上一些最重要的地点，包括达达内尔群岛(伊斯坦布尔附近)、爱琴海群岛和整个土耳其西部的考古遗址。由于许多大规模的生态问题(包括入侵物种和相关病原体)起源于美国以外(农业企业的结果)，该项目中的国际和多元文化合作是培训我们的学生参与者研究现代世界生物系统的关键因素。本项目得到了国家自然科学基金？S生物科学委员会和国际科学与工程办公室的资助。欲了解更多信息，请登录http://cms.uco.edu/REU/，或联系首席调查员约翰·F·巴特尔博士，电话：4059742481；

The University of Central Oklahoma REU Site will provide a research program for undergraduates during the summers of 2009-2012. Six students will be selected each year to participate in an intensive eight-week research program that involves collaboration by an international team of scientists from the United States, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. We pose behavioral and ecological hypotheses that use honey bees and solitary bees as model systems. The questions we address are basic in nature but have clear relevance to applied (agricultural) systems in the region where we work. Specifically, we address topics germane to invasive species in pollination systems, decision-making by foraging honey bees and learning patterns in honey bees as influenced by environmental factors. These investigations have direct application to crop pollination and the apicultural industry in Eurasia where honey bees and the solitary bees we study are native. Prior to departing for the field portion of the program, students will be immersed in a one-week course that focuses on experimental design and the history and nature of science; students also participate in the publication process and are supported in their development toward post-graduate studies. We intend to support a generation of scientists who understand the developing world and the relationship between the diversity of human culture and intellectual innovation. Students therefore participate in enrichment activities that include exposure to some of the most significant locations in human history that include archaeological sites along the Dardanelles (near Istanbul), the Aegean islands and throughout western Turkey. Since many large-scale ecological issues (including invasive species and associated pathogens) originate from outside the United States (a result of agricultural enterprise), the international and multicultural collaborations in the program represent a key ingredient in training our student participants to study biological systems in the modern world. This program is supported by funds from the National Science Foundation?s Directorate of Biological Sciences and Office of International Science and Engineering. Additional information can be found at http://cms.uco.edu/REU/, or by contacting the Principal Investigator, Dr. John F. Barthell, at 405-974-2481; jbarthell@uco.edu.