REU Site: ED-QUE2ST (Enhancing Diversity, Quality, and Understanding of the Ecological/Evolutionary Sciences for Tomorrow)

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). An award was made to the University of Michigan to provide research training for 10 weeks for 10 undergraduate students per year, for the summers of 2011-2012. Students will participate in either laboratory or field studies in the general areas of ecology and evolutionary biology on the University of Michigan campus or at faculty research sites. In this program, faculty and advanced graduate students in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology will be paired with individual students and guide them through the process of developing a research project. During their training, students will carry out required laboratory or field work, write up a final report and present their results at a symposium held in August at the University of Michigan. Subject matter may range from, for example, field work on changing mammal distributions in northern Michigan to the mathematical modeling of the expansion of malaria due to global warming, depending on student interest and availability of specific mentors. In addition, students will attend a workshop dedicated to training in scientific ethics and the responsible conduct of research. First and second year students will be recruited especially from minority-serving institutions through mass mailings and web advertising. Student progress will be continually assessed by the mentor and an advisory committee over web-based conferencing during the active phase of the research, and a final evaluation of the program will be conducted at the close of the summer session each year. An important goal of the program is to increase diversity in ecology and evolutionary biology, and the program will emphasize the promotion of connections among students underrepresented in biology, thereby furthering the development of a diverse graduate student community and research faculty For further information contact John Vandermeer (jvander@umich.edu), Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, or visit http://www.lsa.umich.edu/eeb/undergraduates/reu.html.