REU: Coastal Conservation Research Program

Stockton University, Galloway NJ

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this program is to train students in conservation biology by providing 12 undergraduate students with an intense and comprehensive research experience during a 10-week summer program. Students concentrate on one of several ongoing research projects in coastal conservation, such as the population ecology and genetics of threatened or endangered species, restoration ecology, impacts of habitat fragmentation and human disturbance on beach-nesting shore birds, exotic species assessments, and impacts and studies of species increasingly affected by different human activities. During the summer residential program, the student researchers will participate in all phases of the scientific method-asking questions, developing hypotheses, designing and conducting field and/or laboratory studies, analyzing and interpreting data, and forming conclusions. Student activities initially involve directed research activities on existing projects with a group of research scientists working along the southern New Jersey coast. Scientists are affiliated with partner organizations, which include The Wetlands Institute, The Nature Conservancy, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection Program. As they become skilled in those research activities, students will develop their own related, yet new projects in consultation with their research supervisors to be completed during the summer. All students will also participate in 1) weekly academic seminars, 2) periodic workshops on specific research tools including experimental design and biostatistics, 3) a variety of public education and stewardship activities, and 4) a bioethics program. All students conclude their research experiences with presentations of their results at a student research symposium organized as a professional scientific meeting. Selected students will attend and/or present their studies at regional or national scientific meetings. Along with training students in research, the project strengthens collaborations among community and government partners, thereby enabling them to improve their conservation efforts.