REU Site: Interpreting Paleoenvironments -- A Mulidisciplinary, Field and Laboratory Study of Florida's Late Neogene Record

University Of South Florida, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

Through 8 weeks on site, combining field work, laboratory investigations, and synthesis activities, 12 undergraduate students per year, recruited from institutions targeted to enhance women and minorities, will be trained in the methods, strengths, and aims of multidisciplinary science, using Florida's Late Neogene strata to erect a high-resolution stratigraphic framework within which oaleoenvironmental change can be investigated. The pedagogic goals of this project will be accomplished through a combination of field work and laboratory analysis, with constant mentoring by the two PIs plus three additional faculty members and an experienced graduate assistant, providing a 2:1 student:mentor ratio. To facilitate the mentoring process and create a multidisciplinary research environment, groups of two or three students will engage in focused research projects to test wide-ranging hypotheses that will result in presentations and, where appropriate, publications.