REU Site: Early research experience for undergraduates in coastal biology on Florida's first coast

位于佛罗里达州杰克逊维尔的北佛罗里达大学（UNF）将举办一个本科生研究体验（REU）网站，该网站将为十名学生提供为期三年的为期10周的主动学习体验。 该计划的总体目标是加强早期（上升大二和大三）本科生的培训和职业发展，他们没有通过从事沿海生物学研究先前的研究经验。该计划包括为期一周的方向和一对一的指导研究项目。学生还将参加专业发展活动，完成正式的写作任务，并进行口头和海报展示。将鼓励学生在专业会议和/或提交给专业期刊的手稿中展示他们的研究成果。UNF REU网站将在三年内为30名本科生提供研究实习机会。该计划在全国范围内寻找申请人，并寻求吸引来自研究机会有限的学校的学生。提供的大部分资金用于支持学生的助学金、住房和参加该项目的旅行。REU学生在联合国基金会的潜在研究项目的重点包括对佛罗里达沿海生态系统的日益增长的威胁，如人为污染，入侵物种，有害藻华，对渔业的影响和栖息地的改变。学生还可以学习基础生理学（例如，离子交换机制，基因表达模式）和/或生态学（例如，食物网的相互作用、分布范围的变化、杂交），以便了解沿海生境的人为变化如何改变这些因素并影响沿海野生动物的数量。通过他们的指导研究经验与具体的技能培训课程配对，学生将获得沿海生物学和沿海环境系统的重要问题的理解。该项目支持培养下一代科学家和科学工作者的国家目标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The University of North Florida (UNF), located in Jacksonville, FL, will host a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site that will provide ten students with a 10-week active learning experience each summer for three years. The overall goal of the program is to enhance the training and career development of early stage (rising Sophomores and Juniors) undergraduate students who have not had prior research experience by engaging them in research on coastal biology. The program includes a one-week orientation and one-on-one mentoring for research projects. Students will also participate in professional development activities, complete a formal writing assignment and give both an oral and a poster presentation. Students will be encouraged to present their research findings at professional conferences and/or in manuscripts submitted to professional journals. The UNF REU Site will provide a total of thirty undergraduates with research internships over the three-year period. The program conducts a national search for applicants and seeks to engage students who are from schools with limited research opportunities. Most of the funding provided supports student stipends, housing and travel to attend the program. The focus of potential research projects for REU students at UNF includes growing threats to coastal ecosystems in Florida, such as anthropogenic pollution, invasive species, harmful algal blooms, impacts to fisheries, and habitat alteration. Students may also study basic physiology (e.g., ion exchange mechanisms, patterns of gene expression) and/or ecology (e.g., food web interactions, range shifts, hybridization) of coastal organisms in an effort to understand, among other things, how anthropogenic changes to coastal habitats alter these factors and influence coastal wildlife populations. Through their mentored research experiences paired with specific skills training sessions, students will gain an understanding of important issues in coastal biology and coastal environmental system. This project supports national goals of developing the next generation of scientists and the scientific workforce.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.