Increasing Research Opportunities for Undergraduates: A Program for Native American and Pacific Islander Students

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) at Duke University in collaboration with the All- Nations and Pacific Alliances for Minority Participation provides field research experiences for Native American and Pacific Islander undergraduate students. The eight week research program takes place in Costa Rica at the Las Cruces Biological Station, an important research station in the Neotropics and a major OTS center for hands-on training in field-oriented research. The goal of the Native American and Pacific Islander program is to continue to provide an intensive field research experience for Native American and Pacific Islander undergraduate students. The new program is structured around an eight-week stay in Costa Rica and Panama, during which the participants will conduct research at the OTS Las Cruces Biological Station, among other sites, and visit indigenous communities. The focus of the program is the development of the students interest in biology and their capacity to conduct independent field research. The program introduces participants to biodiversity, cultural diversity and community-based conservation issues of the tropics. The NSF Louis Stokes Alliances for Participation (LS-AMP) program funded a successful pilot program of 15 students in 2005 under grant HRD 05-03308.