REU Site: SURFO - Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships in Oceanography

University Of Rhode Island, Kingston RI

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides renewed funding for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Rhode Island (URI). The program is called the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships in Oceanography (SURFO) and offers a 10-week research/educational program designed to expose 9 undergraduates per year to cutting-edge, authentic, oceanographic research at the URI?s Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) located in Narragansett, RI. Each student will work with a research advisor and graduate student to develop/conduct a research project in an area of oceanography appropriate to each student's background and interests. The research or educational niche filled by the SURFO program deals with the more quantitative aspects of oceanography, which closely parallels the strengths of GSO/URI. GSO also plans to expand the scope of the research projects to include renewable energy to complement their recently state-funded center of excellence for Research on Offshore Renewable Energy. The research projects undertaken by participants are typically part of a separate NSF funded research program, but the student project focuses on an interesting aspect of the research that was not anticipated. As such, these projects are often high-risk and high-reward for which support for the PIs or graduate students was not budgeted. These types of projects truly give the student a taste of the successes and frustrations of authentic, cutting-edge research. Many of the student projects represent important initial results for subsequent research proposals or publications. The primary undergraduate population targeted by the program includes students with strong backgrounds in math, physics, computer science, and engineering. Students who have completed their junior year of undergraduate education are preferred participants, but well-qualified sophomores or matriculating seniors are also considered. Students from under-represented groups in the geosciences and students with limited exposure to oceanographic research at their home institutions are highly sought. The SURFO program exposes students to a broad spectrum of oceanographic research across various sub-disciplines. The program provides students with exposure to the expectations and lifestyle of graduate school. These combined experiences are expected to result in better-prepared graduate students and faster degree completion times. The site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.