REU Site: Environmental/Green Chemistry

South Dakota State University, Brookings SD

Investigators

Abstract

This project funded by the REU Sites Program in the Chemistry Division and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) both at the National Science Foundation (NSF) supports a Research Experience for Undergraduates Site at South Dakota State University, led by Professor James A. Rice and colleagues. The site will support ten students during the ten week summer program that will focused on environmental and green materials chemistry and provide the students with multi-disciplinary research experiences. The goal is to provide cutting-edge research experiences, mentoring, and research-themed professional development to increase the students' preparedness to pursue graduate school or environmental/green chemistry careers. The Site will introduce students to environmental and green chemistry where they will learn about natural and industrial chemical processes that impact societal research needs. These range from understanding climate change to the fate and behavior of anthropogenic chemicals introduced into natural and biological systems, and to making new materials with a reduced reliance on harmful solvents. The REU site will recruit students from institutions with limited research opportunities with the primary emphasis on attracting students who attend tribal colleges, public and private (predominately undergraduate) institutions in South Dakota and western Minnesota. The Site will explore a distributive concept where the students will work in different locations (the host institution, Black Hills State University and Northern State University) and communicate using Access Grid, a high definition, internet-based communication system. An expected outcome will be to integrate undergraduate research into the chemistry curricula at the predominately undergraduate partner institutions as they work to achieve degree certification by the American Chemical Society.