REU Site: A Collaborative Student-Faculty Research Program in the Biological Sciences at Hope College

Hope College, Holland MI

Investigators

Abstract

The Department of Biology at Hope College will utilize a grant from the NSF-REU program to provide research appointments for 48 undergraduate students (12 per summer for 4 years). Half of the students will come from Hope College and half will come from other colleges and universities throughout the U.S. We will make special efforts, including a formal preferred acceptance program with Howard University, to recruit and appoint both women and members of minority groups underrepresented in science. To broaden the understanding by future teachers of the conduct of science, 2 student participants each year will have a career goal of teaching high school biology. Students will participate in research at all levels of biology, from characterizing a new receptor gene for vasopressin to studying the ecology of frugivory in a tropical cloud forest. One to 3 students will be involved in internationally-based projects each year. Interactions among students and faculty will provide each participant with knowledge about a wide range of biological problems and ways in which those problems are addressed. In addition to the research itself, participants will take part in weekly meetings aimed at improving oral and written communication skills, exploring ethical issues in biology, and learning about graduate school and career opportunities in biology. Students will communicate results of their research in formal talks (at Hope and at professional meetings), in a poster symposium and in a scientific paper. The Hope program will impact the student participants' understanding of science, the sciences, as students present their results to the scientific community, and society as students move on to graduate schools and a variety of careers.