REU Site: Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics in a Changing World

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

This REU Site award to the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) of Michigan State University (MSU), in rural Hickory Corners, MI, will support training for 10 students over 11 weeks during the summers of 2018 - 2020. The program focuses on the ecological and evolutionary processes that drive responses in plant, animal and microbial systems to global change. REU students work in KBS faculty labs that have affiliated positions in departments of Integrative Biology, Plant Biology, Plant Soil and Microbial Sciences, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Animal Science, Entomology and Forestry at MSU. Students will collaborate with their mentor(s) to design a research project that takes advantage of the diverse habitats and long term experiments at KBS to test hypotheses about how climate change impacts both managed and natural systems. Students will participate in a professional development program that addresses issues such as scientific best practices, preparation for graduate school and employment in STEM fields, and effective ways for communicating science. Recruitment targets increasing participation of military veterans, students from under-represented groups, or students from institutions with limited research opportunities in ecology and evolutionary biology. The on-line application is reviewed by program coordinators who forward appropriate candidates to mentors who interview applicants whose interests best match their research. It is anticipated a total of 30 students will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research questions are developed and tested, and will present the results of their work at a public symposium. Students will live at KBS, and will interact daily with resident faculty, graduate students and postdocs, who conduct research on a broad range of ecological and evolutionary topics. The 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 effectiveness of the training program. Students are tracked after the program and expected to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information is available by contacting the PI (Dr. Katherine Gross at kgross@kbs.msu.edu), or the co-PI (Dr. Danielle Zoellner at zoellne8@msu.edu) or at our website (http://www.kbs.msu.edu/index.php/education/ugrad/reu). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.