REU Site: Ecological Research in the Northern Rockies, the Crown-of-the-Continent REU Program

University Of Montana, Missoula MT

Investigators

Abstract

The Crown-of-the-Continent REU Program is a 10-week immersion for 10 upper-division undergraduate students into ecological research in and around Glacier National Park. Coordinated by the Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) of the University of Montana, this broad-based, field-ecology program has a rich mix of research projects offering many opportunities for REU students in different disciplinary areas: population ecology, community ecology, landscape ecology, limnology, population genetics, conservation biology, physiological ecology, microbial ecology, geomorphology, remote sensing, biodiversity, informatics and more. FLBS is an international leader in research of aquatic systems and terrestrial-aquatic interactions at watershed to landscape scales. REU students work alongside world-class scientists extending the scope of ongoing research, following up on interesting leads and exploring new areas. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of the Bio Station's research program provides the REU students with an understanding of how collaborative, integrative research is conducted. REU students become better equipped to pursue a career in science, and more capable of understanding the social context and interaction between science and society. Based on interests and education, REU students are matched with mentor scientists who lead them through overview and apprenticeship phases and guide them in an independent research project. Students are immersed in the mentor scientist's projects as full team members becoming exposed to the basic set of intellectual and logistical activities of research, from the formulation of questions and hypotheses, to designing experimental studies, to developing field sampling and analytical methods, to communication via written reports and presentations. The summer program concludes with an REU Symposium where students present the results of their research as at a professional meeting. The Symposium is advertised on the FLBS web page and open to the public. An informatics component provides a unique aspect of this REU Program. Two students of the 10 in each summer's cohort are selected for their interest in data management and work jointly with their mentor scientist and the Biological Station's data manager on a long-term data set. The REU Program overlaps with FLBS's 100-plus year-old program of summer classes. FLBS is a year-round research and educational community where scientists, graduate students, undergraduate students and technicians live, study and work together in a collegial atmosphere. Summer is an especially dynamic time with multiple opportunities for REU students to interact with researchers and other students in the relaxed setting of a field station. For further information and application materials, please visit www.umt.edu/flbs or contact Jack Stanford at jack.stanford@flbs.umt.edu.