REU Site at the Blandy Experimental Farm--University of Virginia

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

The Blandy Experimental Farm, a biological field stations of the University of Virginia, hosts a 10-week program where undergraduates learn: 1) basic principles of environmental biology, 2) methods by which scientists increase our understanding of the natural world, and 3) essential elements of scientific research and how to put these in a context that is intended to educate the general public about research and ecology. The goal is to teach students, no matter what their major field of study, how to "do" science, give them an opportunity to conduct original, and largely independent field research in areas of faculty expertise, and to package the results in a form that can be used to educate the public about scientific inquiry. The Program is interdisciplinary, features research on individuals, populations , communities, ecosystem processes, and is built around a diverse team of five scientists and two educators. Individual student research focuses on topics of basic scientific and/or applied importance (animal behavior, population dynamics/interactions, landscape ecology, and biogeochemical cycles) and especially those topics that have high heuristic or societal value. In keeping with the mission of the Blandy Experimental Farm, the program formally combines scientific research with environmental education. Students progress through three phases: Phase I-1- week of formal lectures and "hands-on" exercises detailing the scientific method, hypothesis testing, experimental design, statistics and an introduction to basic pedagogies; Phase II-8 weeks of data collection, data analyses, directed study, and experimentation; and Phase III--1 week of data analysis, interpretation, and communication of results. The program includes students from a diversity of cultural backgrounds, interests, and home institutions. Students reside in a field-station setting and are part of a larger research community of 15-25 other students taking courses, graduate students working on theses, post-doctoral researchers, and other faculty. Field trips, weekly seminars, and journal clubs add to the student experience. Exit and follow-up interviews are used to assess the program each year.