REU Site: RIDE - Research for Inclusivity and Driving Equity

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

The Research for Inclusivity and Driving Equity (RIDE) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site will provide undergraduate students an immersive and interdisciplinary experience in community engaged research focused on improving the transportation experience for underserved and underrepresented communities. The RIDE REU Site will develop well-rounded researchers by providing them the knowledge necessary to design transportation systems that better serve communities; to formulate transportation policies and regulations that lead to more equitable transportation outcomes; and to help bridge communication gaps across disciplines and with communities of interest. The RIDE REU Site will support the full participation of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM through recruiting and mentoring, and by sustaining relationships with REU students and faculty at their home institutions. This promotion of women and minorities will facilitate a more equitable future professoriate. Moreover, the REU will help build the workforce in a key strategic area – transportation - helping to increase the economic competitiveness of the U.S. by exposing promising students to community engaged research, design, and planning. The objectives of the RIDE REU Site are to: (1) engage a diverse pool of undergraduate students in transportation research, (2) expose and educate undergraduate students on convergent research that affects their communities’ transportation decisions, (3) encourage undergraduate students to pursue graduate research in transportation related fields, and (4) enrich the undergraduate student experience through lifelong mentoring. The intended contribution of the REU site is preparing and motivating 10 diverse undergraduate students per year to pursue graduate education in fields related to transportation. Students will participate in a variety of mentored research projects that require data collection and analysis such as interviews, focus groups, surveys, and secondary data analysis. In addition to engaging with interdisciplinary researchers, students will also engage with community partners to collect data and disseminate the results. Outside of research, students will participate in a host of activities over the summer, including: professional development and communication seminars, technical seminars, field trips, working lunches, end-of-summer presentation and poster session, technical writing, and a broader impacts project. Students will be recruited from: women’s colleges; community colleges; a minority serving high school; Northeast Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Partnership institutions; minority serving institutions (i.e., HBCUs and HSIs); and UMass student affinity groups (e.g., National Society of Black Engineers). 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.