REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Kansas has developed a summer program to help undergraduate students understand how scientific research is conducted. To achieve this goal, 30 students (10 in each of the years 2001-2003) will be recruited to spend 10 weeks at the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas. Students in the program will learn about research in two main ways. First, each student will be paired with a faculty mentor and will complete their own research project. Participating faculty have varied interests (ecological study at many spatial scales; research on evolutionary patterns and processes at several time scales), so a diversity of research projects will be done. Second, students will participate in many group activities including weekly seminars and tours of research facilities. Students will also get additional research exposure by presenting their results at a research symposium and attending a national scientific meeting in their discipline. An objective of this program is to provide research experiences for students who are unlikely to have this opportunity at their home institution and therefore help encourage a diverse population of students to consider scientific careers. Thus, although recruitment will be nationwide, a particular focus will be to attract students from smaller institutions with fewer research faculty, and students from institutions with high minority enrollment. In particular, students from Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, KS will be encouraged to become involved.