REU Site: Enriching the Undergraduate Research Experience for Native American Students

Fort Lewis College, Durango CO

Investigators

Abstract

This three-year Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site award to Fort Lewis College (FLC) in Durango, CO will support research experiences for Native Americans undergraduate students focused around energy, propulsion and the environment. Native American scholars face unique and serious obstacles along the path to the Ph.D. One increasing challenge to converting Native American students from undergraduate scholars to academics and researchers is the difficulty of gaining admissions into prestigious graduate programs. This REU program aims to increase the skill portfolio of Native American students with research experiences along with intensive mentoring. Participants will be involved in relevant research at Fort Lewis College under the mentorship of FLC faculty; they will later transfer to a traditional R1 REU summer program. These experiences, in addition to the relationships formed at the R1 institutions, will increase the competitiveness of their graduate school application. As a public primarily undergraduate institution with a successful history of externally funded undergraduate research, FLC is uniquely qualified for this program. The college has a robust undergraduate research program with a high quality faculty deeply invested in student success. The designated research projects are focused around energy which is one of the more critical factors in both the global economy and ecology. The proposed research aims to further understanding of critical energy and propulsion processes by development of laser diagnostics in combustion, providing critical experimental data to modelers, develop innovative techniques to monitor nuclear reactors and investigate new forms of propulsion, molecular energy transfer and liquid phase molecular dynamics. The broader impacts of this REU program are twofold. Firstly, participation of underrepresented groups in scientific research is directly increased. The program is designed to ultimately increase the number of PhDs awarded to Native Americans. Native American students will be provided the opportunity to perform undergraduate research while bringing theory into reality. FLC is a Native American-Serving, Non-Tribal institution with an historic mission to educate the nation's Native Americans within a liberal arts framework. FLC ranks 4th in the nation in percent of full-time Native American undergraduates but first in baccalaureate STEM degrees awarded to Native Americans. Secondly, data generated will be disseminated to the wider research community. This will lead to a lasting impact on the body of scientific knowledge specifically in the area of energy, propulsion and the environment. 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.