REU Site: Addressing Environmental Challenges and Proposing Sustainable Solutions at the Lake Erie Land-Lake Interface

University Of Toledo, Toledo OH

Investigators

Abstract

This REU Site award to the University of Toledo, in Toledo, OH, will support the training of 30 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2019- 2021. Research is conducted at the University of Toledo's Lake Erie Center, Main Campus, Health Sciences Campus, and adjacent field sites. Students will address complex challenges at the land-lake interface to understand how natural resource use impacts biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and public health, with the goal of advancing environmental sustainability. Students will be paired with faculty and graduate student mentors from the Departments of Environmental Sciences, Geography and Planning, Public Health, or Engineering, and will design and conduct independent research projects in ecology, limnology, remote sensing, or engineering. Field trips will introduce students to the diverse habitats and ecological challenges facing Lake Erie, and students will receive training in research ethics, experimental delesign, data analysis, writing scientific papers, and applying to graduate school. Students will write a final report and present their research at a public poster gala. This program targets minority applicants, women, veterans, and first-generation college students. The PI and co-PI will evaluate applicants based on academic excellence, letter of reference, and demonstrated interest in environmental issues, and will match REU fellows with an appropriate faculty mentor based on students' indicated preference for research areas. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. 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 will be tracked after the program to determine their career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program, including an online application, is available by visiting http://www.utoledo.edu/nsm/lec/REU/main.html, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Jeanine Refsnider at jeanine.refsnider@utoledo.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Kevin Czajkowski at kevin.czajkowski@utoledo.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.