REU Site: Research experiences for undergraduates in coastal biology on Florida's first coast

北佛罗里达大学（UNF）生物系将举办一个以海岸海洋科学领域为重点的REU现场计划。该项目将在三年的时间里，每年夏天邀请10名本科生到UNF校园进行为期10周的实习。该计划的总体目标是通过参与这一重要领域的研究和文化，加强对没有重要研究经验的早期（大二和大三）本科生的培训和职业发展。每年夏天，学生将从不同的城市大学（包括合作的历史黑人学院，爱德华沃特斯学院）招募。其他合作组织包括瓜纳托洛马托马坦萨斯国家河口研究保护区、东南动物园繁殖和保护联盟以及杰克逊维尔动物园。实习生的研究课题将大致分为三个方面：1)沿海和海洋生物的生态学和保护；2)沿海和海洋生物的遗传、分子和结构生物学；3)沿海和海洋生物的行为。所有参与者都将完成为期一周的培训，在此期间，他们将接受基本研究技能的培训，如进行文献综述、分析科学论文、提出假设、设计实验、撰写提案和伦理研究实践。之后，学生将与UNF或合作机构的生物学家配对，就北佛罗里达沿海生物资源的主要威胁进行指导研究项目。在项目期间，参与的学生将完成两份正式的写作作业（一份简短的研究计划和一份摘要），并进行口头和海报展示。学生也将被鼓励在专业会议上展示他们的研究成果和/或提交给专业期刊的手稿。额外的职业指导主题，如设计研究海报，科学写作，寻找和申请研究生院，海岸生物学的常见类型的工作，并向公众展示科学信息将在整个暑期课程的研讨会上提供。学生将参加由UNF教师、研究生和最近获得研究生学位的以前REU参与者举办的定期研究研讨会。已经制定了一个强有力的评估计划，以确定该计划的预期结果（即，对科学研究过程的理解的改进，对研究相关能力的信心，对科学学术和职业选择的认识，以及学生的保留和研究生院的接受，特别是代表性不足的少数民族）是否达到了前几年的水平。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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's (UNF) Dept. of Biology will host a REU Site Program focused on the field of Coastal Ocean Sciences. The project will bring ten undergraduates to the UNF campus each summer for three years to complete a 10-week internship. 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 significant research experience by engaging them in the research and culture of this important field. Students will be recruited each summer from a variety of urban universities (including a partnering Historically Black College, Edward Waters College). Other partnering organizations include the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, South-East Zoo Alliance for Reproduction and Conservation, and the Jacksonville Zoo.Research topics for interns will be offered in three general areas, including 1) Ecology and conservation of coastal and marine organisms, 2) Genetic, molecular and structural biology of coastal and marine organisms, and 3) Behavior of coastal and marine organisms. All participants will complete a one-week orientation during which they will receive training in basic research skills like conducting literature reviews, dissecting scientific papers, developing hypotheses, designing experiments, writing proposals, and ethical research practices. Afterwards, students will be paired with biologists from UNF or collaborating institutions to conduct mentored research projects on major threats to coastal biological resources in North Florida. During the program, participating students will complete two formal writing assignments (a short research proposal and an Abstract) and give both an oral and a poster presentation. Students will also be encouraged to present their research findings at professional conferences and/or in manuscripts submitted to professional journals. Additional career guidance on topics such as designing research posters, scientific writing, finding and applying to graduate schools, common types of jobs in coastal biology, and presenting scientific information to a public audience will be provided in workshops throughout the summer program. Students will attend regular research seminars by UNF faculty, graduate students and previous REU participants that have recently received graduate degrees. A strong evaluation plan has been developed to determine if the anticipated results of the program (i.e., improvements in understanding of the scientific research process, confidence in research related abilities, awareness of academic and career options in science, and retention and graduate school acceptance of students, especially underrepresented minorities) are achieved as they have been in previous years.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.