REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates at the National Weather Center

大气与地理科学本科生真实世界研究体验(REU)将把来自美国所有州和地区的70名本科生带到俄克拉何马州诺曼市进行科学研究，了解他们面临的广泛职业机会。该项目的核心是一次真实的研究体验，向参与者介绍在俄克拉荷马大学诺曼大学研究校园内天气、气候和雷达组织的一名或多名科学家的指导下进行的科学研究。这些组织跨越联邦、州、大学和私营部门团体，共同努力提高我们对天气和气候的理解。REU计划中的其他活动旨在提供全面的体验，帮助参与者确定他们在推进教育和职业方面的下一步行动。参与者参加研讨会和工作坊，以了解尖端科学并培养他们的研究技能。他们参观天气、气候和雷达相关设施，并能够了解研究科学家生活中的一天。在项目结束时，参与者在专业会议上与彼此、当地科学界和更大的科学界分享他们的研究项目。这项新提议将有助于以令人兴奋的新方式发展该计划。它将通过开发科学写作研讨会课程来帮助推动这一领域的发展，该课程是试点的、完善的，并与其他REU项目广泛共享。它还将通过一项新的动手活动，利用从实验雷达到无人机和气象站的各种仪器，连接参与者并让他们接触到融合研究的想法。该计划将利用在线运行2020年计划的经验，为受名额限制的学生提供参与的机会，并让所有参与者与该计划的校友建立更广泛的联系。在过去的20年里，这个项目已经引进了270多名美国本科生，向他们介绍研究，同时教授他们在研究生院和未来职业生涯中的宝贵技能。由于这一计划，科学劳动力正在变得更加公平，一半的参与者是女性，四分之一的参与者是种族和少数民族、美国军队的退伍军人、非传统学生或身体残疾的学生，所有这些人在大气科学中的代表性都很低。该项目的大部分校友都攻读了研究生学位，现在从事气象学或相关领域的工作。通过每年出版出版物，REU已经并将继续在个人、地方、大学、州、国家和国际各级产生更广泛的影响，同时还制作或改进其研究项目以外有用的数据库和工具。几位参与者的研究成果已被用于国家气象局的培训和应急管理行动。这个项目建立了一个多元化的科学家社区，他们对高质量的研究有着深刻的欣赏，并增加了学术、公共和私营部门之间的合作和融合研究。这些努力有助于培养下一代包容性科学家，以保持美国在天气和气候研究方面的全球领导地位。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Real-World Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) in Atmospheric & Geographic Sciences will bring 70 undergraduate students from all U.S. states and territories to Norman, Oklahoma, to conduct scientific research and learn about the wide range of career opportunities available to them. The heart of the program is an authentic research experience that introduces participants to scientific research under the guidance of one or more scientists in the weather, climate, and radar organizations within the University of Oklahoma-Norman's University Research Campus. These organizations span across Federal, state, university, and private sector groups that work collaboratively to improve our understanding of weather and climate. Additional activities in the REU program are designed to provide a well-rounded experience that help participants determine their next steps in regard to advancing education and careers. Participants attend seminars and workshops to learn about cutting edge science and to build their research skills. They tour weather, climate, and radar-related facilities and are able to learn about a day in the life of a research scientist. At the end of the program, participants share their research projects with each other, the local scientific community, and the larger scientific community at a professional conference. This new proposal will help evolve the program in exciting new ways. It will help to advance the field by developing a Scientific Writing Workshop curriculum that is piloted, refined, and shared widely with other REU programs. It will also connect and expose participants to the idea of convergent research through a new, hands-on activity with a wide array of instrumentation ranging from experimental radars to drones and weather stations. This program will leverage experiences running the 2020 program online to offer place-bound students the opportunity to participate and for all participants to connect more broadly with alumni of the program. Over the past 20 years, this program has brought in more than 270 U.S. undergraduate students, introducing them to research while teaching them valuable skills for graduate school and future careers. The scientific workforce is becoming more equitable because of this program, with half of the participants being female and a quarter being racial and ethnic minorities, veterans of the U.S. armed forces, non-traditional students, or students with a physical disability, all of whom are underrepresented in atmospheric sciences. The majority of this program’s alumni have pursued a graduate degree and now work in meteorology or a related field. This REU has and will continue to have broader impacts at the individual, local, university, state, national, and international level through publications each year while also producing or improving databases and tools useful beyond their own research projects. Several participants' research results have been used for National Weather Service training and emergency management operations. This program builds a diverse community of scientists with a deep appreciation for quality research and increases collaborative and convergent research between the academic, public, and private sectors. These efforts assist in the growth of the next generation of inclusive scientists to maintain U.S. global leadership in weather and climate research.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.