REU Site: Summer Program in Chihuahuan Desert Biodiversity

这项授予德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校(UTEP)的REU SITE奖项将在2016-2018年夏季期间支持8名学生进行为期10周的培训。研究在UTEP及其印第安山研究站以及德克萨斯州和新墨西哥州的其他奇瓦瓦沙漠(CD)遗址进行。该计划的重点是CD生物多样性，重点是与UTEP生物科学教员的兴趣相关的进化和生态学研究，他们将担任导师。学生需要进行全日制的实地和实验室研究，并参加研讨会和研讨会，如负责任的研究行为、专业沟通技能等。REU的学生将有机会使用设备齐全的导师实验室和跨部门研究设施。学生是根据学术记录、研究兴趣和潜力以及教师推荐来挑选的。预计共有24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。学生大多为大三或大四学生，但将考虑优秀的大二学生。该计划旨在招募和激发一批在科学领域代表性较差、在本国机构进行研究机会有限的学生。学生将被引导通过假设驱动的合作研究项目来产生知识，这些知识最终可能会为环境可持续性和人类福祉的行动提供信息。学生将在UTEP校园暑期研究研讨会上展示他们的研究成果，许多学生将被鼓励在科学会议上展示他们的研究成果。由生物基础设施部(生物科学局)资助的所有REU项目使用的通用网络评估工具将用于确定培训计划的有效性。内部调查还将用于对培训课程的反馈。项目结束后，将对学生进行跟踪，以确定他们的职业道路。学生将被要求回复通过NSF报告系统发送的自动电子邮件。欲了解更多有关该计划的信息，请访问http://science.utep.edu/cdb-reu，，或联系国际和平组织(迈克尔·穆迪博士，电子邮件：mlmoody@utep.edu)或联合国际组织(曾傑瑞·约翰逊博士，电子邮件：JJohnson@utep.edu)。

This REU Site award to the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), located in El Paso, TX, will support the training of 8 students for 10 weeks, during the summers of 2016- 2018. Research is conducted at UTEP and its Indio Mountains Research Station along with other Chihuahuan Desert (CD) sites in Texas and New Mexico. The program focuses on CD biodiversity, with emphasis on studies in evolution and ecology linked to interests of UTEP Biological Sciences faculty, who will serve as mentors. Students are expected to do full-time field and lab research and participate in seminars and workshops, such as responsible conduct in research, professional communication skills, among others. REU students will have access to well-equipped labs of mentors and interdepartmental research facilities. Students are selected based on academic record, research interest and potential, and faculty recommendations. It is anticipated that a total of 24 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will be mostly juniors or seniors but exceptional sophomores will be considered. This program seeks to recruit and excite a population of students poorly represented in science and with limited opportunities to do research at their home institutions. Students will be guided through hypothesis driven collaborative research projects to generate knowledge that may ultimately inform actions for environmental sustainability and human well-being. Students will present their research at a UTEP campus-wide summer research symposium and many will be encouraged to present their research results at scientific conferences.A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (Directorate for Biological Sciences) will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Internal surveys will also be used for feedback on training sessions. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program is available by visiting http://science.utep.edu/cdb-reu, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Michael Moody at mlmoody@utep.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Jerry Johnson at jjohnson@utep.edu).