REU Site: Multidisciplinary environmental science research on forest lakes in Northwest New Jersey

本科学生将参与跨学科的、动手的、面向实地的环境科学研究，以新泽西保护学院周围的小湖泊为中心，蒙特克莱尔州立大学的实地校园位于新泽西州西北部30,000英亩的保护森林中。学生们将被安置在自然保护学院进行研究，提供非凡的“沉浸式研究体验”。学生将在以下研究领域进行工作和轮换，进行实地测量并将其与建模计算进行比较：1)地表水文；2)地下水文；3)日水质关系；4)侵蚀与沉积关系；5)沉积物-水体磷动态。这些小湖泊位于大片受保护的森林之中；推测它们可以作为东北其他湖泊研究的参考点。由于所涉及的湖泊面积小，因此可以进行深入的观察，因此，该项目为评估水文学、地貌学和水生化学方面各种实地方法和模型的准确性提供了一个极好的机会。参与的学生将彼此互动，并与教师和研究生作为榜样。密歇根州立大学的教师和研究生将每天前往NJSOC与学生在他们的专业领域一起工作。REU的学生还将定期前往主校区，使用先进的仪器分析样品。科研活动将通过团队建设、娱乐和教育/专业发展活动来支持，包括学生在专业会议上的演讲。该计划将激励和使REU的学者追求科学/工程研究的学位和职业，并将建立他们的信心，这些学位/职业是可取的和可行的。通过从少数族裔社区大学招聘，我们将吸引目前在环境科学领域代表性不足的群体的成员。培养学生在环境科学领域的跨学科和实验室科学研究方法，以及团队合作和沟通能力。研究生也将接受如何指导本科生的培训。

Undergraduate students will participate in transdisciplinary, hands-on, field-oriented research in environmental sciences, centered on small lakes around the New Jersey School of Conservation, Montclair State's field campus located in 30,000 acres of preserved forest in northwest New Jersey. The students will be housed and research based at the School of Conservation, providing an extraordinary "research immersion experience". Students will work on and rotate among the following research areas, performing field measurement and comparing them with modeling calculations: 1) surface hydrology; 2) subsurface hydrology; 3) diurnal water-quality relationships; 4) erosion and sedimentation relationships; and 5) sediment-water phosphorus dynamics. These small lakes lie in the midst of a large, protected forest; presumably, they can serve as reference sites for comparison in studies of other northeastern lakes. The small size of the lakes involved allows for intensive observation and, therefore, the project provides an excellent opportunity to assess the accuracy of various field methods and models in hydrology, geomorphology and aquatic chemistry. Participating students will interact with each other and with faculty and graduate students serving as role models. Faculty and graduate students from MSU will travel to NJSOC daily to work with the students in their area of expertise. REU students will also travel periodically to the main campus to analyze samples using advanced instruments. Scientific endeavors will be supported by team-building, recreational and educational/professional development activities, including presentations by the students at professional conferences. The program will inspire and enable REU scholars to pursue degrees and careers in science/engineering research and will build their confidence that such degrees/careers are desirable and feasible. By recruiting from minority-serving community colleges, we will attract the members of groups that are currently under-represented in the environmental sciences. The students will be trained in transdisciplinary field and laboratory scientific research methods in environmental science, as well as in teamwork and communication. Graduate students will also be trained in how to mentor undergraduates.