DUE TO ADVANCEMENTS IN COMPUTATIONAL POWER, RESEARCHERS CAN GENERATE AND ANALYZE MASS QUANTITIES OF DATA, A FEAT THAT HAS ONLY RECENTLY BECOME A COMMON POSSIBILITY. TO MEET THIS NEW DEMAND, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STATISTICIANS ARE EXPECTED TO GROW BY 33% OVER THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS, HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING STUDENTS IN THE AREA OF APPLIED STATISTICS AND DATA ANALYSIS. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM IS TO PROVIDE EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS IN APPLIED STATISTICS THROUGH AN IMMERSIVE, TWO-YEAR EXPERIENCE THAT EXPOSES STUDENTS TO BOTH TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH METHODS AND DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES. STUDENTS EMERGING FROM THIS FULLY SUPPORTED TWO-YEAR EXPERIENCE WILL BE COMPETITIVE APPLICANTS FOR ANY STEM GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM OF THEIR CHOOSING AND WILL HAVE GAINED THE SKILLSET NECESSARY TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN A COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT AS A STATISTICIAN.CURRENTLY, STATISTICIANS IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES ARE TYPICALLY INTEGRATED INTO MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAMS WHERE THEY PROVIDE ANALYTICAL SUPPORT TO OTHER RESEARCH SCIENTISTS. YET, EVEN THOUGH THESE STATISTICIANS HELP DESIGN AND ANALYZE RESEARCH EXPERIMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN OR WILL BE CONDUCTED IN A FIELD, GREENHOUSE, OR LABORATORY SETTING, IT IS NOT ATYPICAL FOR STATISTICIANS TO HAVE LIMITED OR NO PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE IN THESE RESEARCH SETTINGS. THIS EXPERIENTIAL GAP CAN LEAD TO DIFFICULTIES IN COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER SCIENTISTS. STUDENTS WHO CAN COLLABORATE EFFECTIVELY WITH MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAMS THROUGH AN UNDERSTANDING OF LABORATORY, FIELD, AND GREENHOUSE STUDIES WILL BE HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER, AND THIS PROGRAM WOULD IMMERSE THEM IN SUCH AN EXPERIENCE PRIOR TO BEGINNING THEIR GRADUATE STUDIES.AS PART OF THE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN APPLIED STATISTICS (ELIAS) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL GAIN HANDS-ON FIELD, GREENHOUSE, OR LABORATORY EXPERIENCE RELATED TO A RESEARCH TOPIC OF THEIR CHOOSING DURING AN INITIAL SUMMER INTERNSHIP. THEY WILL THEN LEARN HOW TO ORGANIZE RESEARCH DATA, PERFORM DATA DIAGNOSTICS, AND PERFORM SIMPLE RESEARCH ANALYSES USING STATISTICAL SOFTWARE. FINALLY, THEY WILL COMPLETE AN INDEPENDENT STUDY PROJECT, INCLUDING DATA ANALYSIS, WITH THEIR RESEARCH MENTOR. FELLOWS WILL PRESENT THEIR FINDINGS AT THE UIUC AGRONOMY DAY, AT THE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM AT THEIR RESPECTIVE INSTITUTIONS, AND AT AN UNDERGRADUATE POSTER SESSION AT A SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OF THEIR CHOOSING. SPECIAL CARE WILL BE TAKEN TO RECRUIT STUDENTS FROM TRADITIONALLY UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUNDS IN THE STEM WORKFORCE AS WELL AS TRANSFER STUDENTS FROM PARKLAND COLLEGE (PC).