REU Site: An Innovative Approach to Engage Underrepresented Minority Students in a Research Experience

位于华盛顿州托彭尼什的传统大学(HU)获得REU Site奖，将在2015-2017年夏季支持30名学生进行为期10周的培训。分子生物学的总体研究主题包括来自胡的12名导师和5个地区合作机构。学生可以从以下项目中进行选择：1)西雅图华盛顿大学的植物基因组研究；2)塔科马普吉特湾大学的植物多倍体研究；(3)瓦帕托USDA-ARS实验室的昆虫分子生态学；4)华盛顿州立大学Prosser的分子植物病理学；5)华盛顿州立大学Pullman的植物基因组学和生物技术；以及6)组蛋白变体在染色质结构和DNA条码中的作用。为期十周的研究经验将包括在HU举行的为期一周的研讨会，培训学生科学方法、分子生物学基本技能、实验室笔记本、EXCEL中的数据管理以及道德/负责任的研究行为。总体战略是在有丰富指导的环境的支持下，为本科生提供充实和具有挑战性的研究体验。HU、亚基马山谷社区学院和哥伦比亚社区学院将招收学生，重点是代表性不足的学生。这些机会将为来自亚基马山谷地区的学生提供包括攻读STEM研究生学位在内的职业选择。对学生进行跟踪，以确定他们对学术研究领域的持续兴趣、他们的职业道路以及研究经验的持久影响。该计划将使用REU通用评估工具(SALG Urssa)进行评估。预计共有30名学生将在该计划中接受培训，这些学生主要来自研究机会有限的学校。学生们将学习研究是如何进行的，许多人将在科学会议上展示他们的工作成果。学生们被要求在项目结束后进行跟踪，并必须回复通过NSF报告系统发送的自动电子邮件。欲了解更多信息，请访问www.heritage.edu/rEU，或联系国际和平组织(Nina Barcenas博士，电子邮件：Barcenas_N@heritage.edu)或共同国际组织(Sonoda_K@heritage.edu，Sonoda_K@heritage.edu)。

This REU Site award to Heritage University (HU), located in Toppenish, WA, will support the training of 30 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2015-2017. The overall research theme of molecular biology involves 12 mentors from HU and five regional partner institutions. Students can select from projects that include 1) genomic studies on plants at the University of Washington, Seattle; 2) polyploidy in plant evolution at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma; (3) insect molecular ecology at the USDA-ARS Lab, Wapato; 4) molecular plant pathology at Washington State University, Prosser; 5) plant genomics and biotechnology at Washington State University, Pullman; and 6) role of histone variants in chromatin structure and DNA barcoding of native plants at HU. The ten week research experience will include a one week workshop at HU that will train students on the scientific method, basic skills in molecular biology, keeping a laboratory notebook, data management in excel, and ethics/responsible conduct of research. The overall strategy is to provide undergraduate students with a fulfilling and challenging research experience supported by a richly mentored environment. Students will be recruited at HU, Yakima Valley Community College and Columbia Community College, with emphasis on underrepresented students. These opportunities will provide students from the Yakima Valley area with career options that include pursuit of graduate degrees in STEM. Students are tracked to determine their continued interest in their academic field of study, their career paths, and the lasting influences of the research experience. The program will be assessed by using the REU common assessment tool (SALG URSSA).It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences.Students are required to be tracked after the program and must respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information is available by visiting www.heritage.edu/REU , or by contacting the PI (Dr. Nina Barcenas at Barcenas_N@heritage.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Kazuhiro Sonoda at Sonoda_K@heritage.edu).