REU Site: Undergraduate Research Experiences in DNA-based discoveries in Hawaii's biodiversity

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

This REU Site award to the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), located in Honolulu, HI, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2016-2018. Participants will take advantage of high-throughput DNA sequencing and phylogenetic methods to study the identity and origins of Hawaii's native, endemic and invasive organisms. REU participants will be mentored by a diverse faculty from the departments of Botany, Biology, and Microbiology, the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at UHM, and Kapi'olani Community College. A guest mentor from the Los Alamos National Laboratory will also participate for one week each summer. The REU experience will begin with one week of laboratory training in molecular, microbiology and genomic techniques, to allow students with limited higher-level biology background or no research experience to participate. A diverse group of REU participants from a variety of institutions and backgrounds will be recruited. Funds will provide for on-campus housing to support students who must relocate to participate. The REU experience will be enhanced by weekly workshops to explore graduate school, scientific communication, responsible conduct of research, and culminate in a scientific poster presentation by each participant. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will be exposed to career options which utilize skills they learned in working with DNA and bioinformatic tools. Students will learn how research is conducted, and may present their work at scientific conferences. A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (Directorate for Biological Sciences) will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine student career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program is available by visiting http://manoa.hawaii.edu/biodiversity-REU, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Stuart Donachie at donachie@hawaii.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Stephanie Kraft-Terry at kraft2@hawaii.edu).