REU Site: A Pilot Project to Engage Underrepresented Minority Students in a Research Experience

Heritage University, Toppenish WA

Investigators

Abstract

A Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) award has been made to Heritage University (HU) to provide 10 weeks of research training for 8 students in the summers of 2012- 2014. This program also includes an academic-year component that prepares students for the summer research program and assists them in preparing abstracts and papers for submission to conferences. After preparing students for the lab work, students spend 10 weeks in the summer at partner host labs of their choosing. A diversity of REU host labs will be offered to students and placement at labs will be determined, in part, by students' interest and their needs to remain in or near the Yakama Valley. Potential host laboratories include those that are close enough for students to return home on weekends and others where students can return home daily. "Distant" REU sites include: (1) University of Washington, Seattle, WA (bacterial antibiotic resistance; dendrology, paleoecology); (2) University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA (polyploidy in plant evolution); and (3) NSF Science and Technology Center and Columbia River Inter-tribal Fish Commission, Beaverton, OR (fisheries biology and ecology). Local REU sites include: (4) the Yakama Nation Fisheries Resource Management, Toppenish WA (lamprey biology, restoration); (5) USDA-ARS, Wapato, WA (insect molecular ecology); (6) Pacific Northwest University, Yakima, WA (microbiology); (7) Washington State University, Prosser, WA (molecular plant pathology); and (8) Heritage University, Toppenish WA, (DNA barcoding and well water quality assessment). The PI, coPI and partner sites prepare students for their internships and their presentations for national meetings. All REU students will participate in spring pre-REU and fall post-REU activities. Our overall strategy is to provide undergraduate students, who are mostly place-bound, with a fulfilling and challenging research experience supported by a richly mentored environment. These opportunities will provide a magnet for recruitment of STEM majors from the Yakima Valley and will help motivate students to pursue graduate studies and careers in science. Students are tracked to determine their continued interest in their academic field of study, their career paths, and the lasting influences of the research experience. Information about the program will be assessed by using the REU common assessment tool. More information is available at: www.heritage.edu/science dept/summer internships/reu, or by contacting Dr. Nina Barcenas (PI) at Barcenas_n@heritage.edu or Dr. Kazuhiro Sonoda (co-PI) at Sonoda_k@heritage.edu.