UMEB: The South Carolina Statewide Collaboration (SCSC) Providing Integrative Biology Research Experience to Minority Undergraduates

University Of South Carolina At Columbia, Columbia SC

Investigators

Abstract

0080799 Mousseau The University of South Carolina (USC) and its partners have formed a South Carolina Statewide Coalition (SC2 ) to support talented undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in an environmental biology research endeavor. In partnership with several South Carolina Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and state agencies, this Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) project will be a key element of a comprehensive initiative aimed at training and preparing minority undergraduates for graduate programs in science and mathematics. SC2-UMEB will train students and their mentors in a wide range of environmental technologies and concepts, ranging from ecological and conservation genetics to ecosystems studies, and will integrate with other ongoing undergraduate training programs in genetics, molecular biology, ecology and evolution. The SC2-UMEB program will feature a course that introduces participants to environmental biology research, summer research experiences in academic and/or a government research laboratories, assistance and counsel from mentor teams (faculty, graduate students and other researchers), academic year research experiences at the students' home campuses, and financial support for travel to professional meetings. The project links the SC2 UMEB partners with other minority research collaborations (e.g., the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) programs, the Minority Institutions of Excellence (MIE) program, the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program) across the nation, as well as the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) graduate program which provides 25 PHD fellowships for qualified students from underrepresented groups wishing to pursue graduate degrees in science and mathematics at USC. SC2-UMEB fellows will have the opportunity to select and engage in active research programs addressing basic environmental issues including genetic, behavioral and ecological responses to environmental change, conservation and restoration biology of terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems, and ecological community response to natural and anthropogenic contaminants.