REU Site: Evolution, Ecology, Environment

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This REU Site award to Harvard University, located in Cambridge, MA, will support the training of eight students for ten weeks during the summers of 2019-21. The main goal of the Evolution, Ecology, Environment (E3) REU program is to leverage the extraordinary resources of the Harvard Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) and the interdepartmental Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) to increase the number of students who pursue research careers in the fields of evolution and ecology, with a focus on students of color and first generation students. In addition to an intensive, mentored laboratory experience, E3 REU students will participate in several types of ancillary activities: 1) professional development seminars, including on ethics/responsible conduct of research, 2) the Leadership Alliance National Symposium (LANS) research and mentoring conference, and 3) diverse cohort-building activities. Applicants are invited to apply through the Leadership Alliance Program and indicate their interest in the Harvard E3 REU. Our goal is to reach students at undergraduate institutions who demonstrate an interest in evolution and ecology but may have limited access to this type of research on their home campuses. It is anticipated that a total of 24 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained over the lifetime of the program. By participating in the REU Site program, undergraduate students will have cutting edge research experiences within the context of a strong mentorship community made up of faculty, graduate students, and peers. This experience will demystify the graduate school application process, the student experience, and longterm career opportunities, with a particular goal of building confidence and psychological resiliency. A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU Site programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students are required to be tracked after the program and must respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information is available by visiting https://gsas.harvard.edu/diversity/outreach-programs/summer-research-opportunities-harvard, or by contacting PI (Elena Kramer, ekramer@oeb.harvard.edu), or the Co-PI (Sheila Thomas, sthomas@fas.harvard.edu). 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.