REU Site: Climate Change Across The Various Scales of System Organization

University Of San Diego, San Diego CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Division Of Chemistry (CHE) and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate at NSF supports a Research Experience For Undergraduates (REU) site led by Debbie Tahmassebi and Sonia Zarate at the University of San Diego. Each summer, the REU Program supports ten students for 10 weeks of summer research. The program focuses on recruiting community college students (currently enrolled and recent transfers to USD) with special consideration for students that are veterans of the armed forces, are underrepresented in STEM, and have had limited opportunities to engage in research. Participants are mentored in modern research, and are trained to take an integrative approach to understand, and propose strategies to address complex climate change issues. Specifically, participants gain an understanding of how new knowledge is generated, learn how to synthesize scientific information, and learn to design experiments taking various disciplines into consideration. Through this integrative approach students develop into innovative scientists that are able to interpret data, form conclusions, and better understand the impact of climate change on the environment and other organisms. The USD NSF REU seeks to better prepare students from underrepresented populations and veterans for matriculation into STEM Academics and the 21st century STEM workforce. The NSF REU Site at USD engages students in collaborative, interdisciplinary research alongside faculty in Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Engineering, Environmental & Ocean Sciences, Mathematics & Computer Science and Physics. The research projects involve students in studies centered on climate change across the various scales of system organization. Students will have a range of research opportunities from studying formation of aerosol particles, coral reef sedimentation, organism metabolism, predator and prey interactions, and coastal wetland community structure. More applied projects include efforts to develop a catalyst to convert a greenhouse gas into a fuel source, approaches to the collection and storage of solar energy and the development of alternative biodegradable composites to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.