Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Marine Biology at the Shoals Marine Laboratory

Cornell Univ - State: Awds Made Prior May 2010, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides renewed funding for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site that will provide an eight-week summer research experience in biological oceanography for a total of nine students. The REU site will be run by Cornell University, but all research will be conducted at the Shoals Marine Laboratory (SML), a seasonally operated field station that is jointly run by Cornell and the University of New Hampshire. SML is located on Appledore Island, a small island in the Gulf of Maine about six miles off Portsmouth, NH, and it provides an isolated setting noted for its rich biota, geology and history. Students will be able to conduct research in a variety of marine habitats, and they will have access to a wide variety of instrumentation. The Cornell site was started in the summer of 2000 with two years of initial funding. The success of the program is demonstrated by the large number of students who continued with their research projects beyond the 8 weeks of the program. Minority participation in the program has been excellent. Institutional support for this program will be provided by Cornell and SML, and SeaGrant will fund one student's participation. Students who participate in this program will advance their awareness of important environmental issues in the Gulf of Maine coastal region. The program also has the potential to recruit minority students to the Geosciences.