REU Site: Summer Research Program in Ecology at Harvard Forest

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This REU Site award to Harvard University’s Harvard Forest, located in Petersham, MA, will support the training of 12 students for 11 weeks during the summers of 2020-2022. It is anticipated that a total of 36 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities or from an underrepresented group, will be trained in the program. Students and mentors will work in teams who will connect long-term, site-based research and ecological research networks to solve fundamental ecological challenges relevant to society. Students will enhance their ability to undertake high-quality interdisciplinary research in a collaborative, collegial environment, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Assessment of the program will use the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. The Harvard Forest REU Site will train the next generation of ecological data scientists to responsibly ‘harness the data revolution’ – one of NSF’s 10 Big Ideas for future research. An REU Site since 1993, the program will leverage Harvard Forest’s deep site-based knowledge and membership in intersecting ecological research networks to advance knowledge of the earth system and the ability to predict responses to environmental change. Projects range from measuring and modeling bacterial evolution in response to long-term experimental soil warming, to incorporating land-use data into interpretations of NEON eddy-flux and organismal data, to developing software tools to improve replicability in science. All projects will involve ecological data and data science from networks of sites (e.g., LTER, NEON, ForestGEO, Ameriflux). Many projects will include virtual collaborations; students will have a primary on-site mentor to guide their work and will simultaneously work in teams with remote mentors. Educational components include an orientation, seminars and professional development workshops, and training in responsible conduct of research. Students apply online and applicants are interviewed and selected by research mentors in consultation with program leadership. In addition to the SALG URSSA tool, student outcomes will be tracked using a 10-year, IRB-approved longitudinal study. More information about the program is available by visiting https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/summerprogram, or by contacting hfreuapp@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.