The Division of Chemistry supports this REU site at Washington State University (WSU), in Pullman WA, for the summers of 2009-2011. The Program Director is Dr. James A. Brozik and will be assisted by Ms. Lori Bruce during the 9.5-week program. This REU site emphasizes the more quantitative aspects of biological chemistry and chemistry related to biological systems. This REU site provides students the opportunity to (1) obtain a hands-on research experience working on an individual project that utilizes state-of-the-art physical and chemical characterization tools to quantitatively address biologically relevant problems, (2) formally and informally learn about the strong connections between chemistry and biology, (3) be a part of a truly collaborative research effort (by being a member of a dynamic, active research group), and (4) experience a new school and / or research environment in a different part of the country. Through participation in WSU's Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE), participants benefit from: (1) co-located housing for all REU and internally funded summer undergraduate research programs, (2) participation in coordinated group activities on campus and the surrounding area, (3) can take advantage of workshops on Library Skills, Intellectual Property, and Poster Presentation Skills, and (4) participation in an end of the summer poster symposium highlighting research from the Science and Engineering summer programs from across the campus (40+ student posters). In this way, the students are exposed to new colleagues from diverse fields of study in Science and Engineering and are totally immersed within a larger community of student-scholars with similar goals but diverse interests. Being a part of a larger community can lead to a richer more positive summer experience.
Summary of Program: This REU site emphasized the more quantitative aspects of biological chemistry and chemistry related to biological systems. To do research in this field of study, one often needs to be specially trained to be able to cross back and forth between wet chemistry / biochemistry, quantitative physical characterization, and theory. This REU site provided students the opportunity to (1) obtain a "hands-on" research experience working on an individual project that utilized state-of-the-art physical and chemical characterization tools to quantitatively address biologically relevant problems, (2) students were formally and informally taught about the strong connections between chemistry and biology, (3) each student was a part of a truly collaborative research effort (by being a member of a dynamic, active research group), and (4) most students experienced a new school and / or research environment in a different part of the country. Through participation in WSU’s Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE), participants benefited from: (1) co-located housing for all REU and internally funded summer undergraduate research programs, (2) participation in coordinated group activities on campus and the surrounding area, (3) took advantage of workshops on Library Skills, Intellectual Property, and Poster Presentation Skills, and (4) participated in an end of the summer poster symposium highlighting research from the Science and Engineering summer programs from across the campus (40-80 student posters). In this way, our students were exposed to new colleagues from diverse fields of study in Science and Engineering and were totally immersed within a larger community of student-scholars with similar goals but diverse interests. By being a part of a larger community our students had rich and positive summer experience. By the Numbers: Over the life of this program we were able expanded our draw of students from a local focus (schools located in the Northwest) to a much more national focus. In this regard, we were able to recruit 30 students over three years from 18 different states and 24 different academic institutions. Moreover, 67% of these institutions are considered either primarily undergraduate institutions (PUI) or designated as minority serving institutions (MSI). In addition to recruiting students from PUIs or MSIs and targeting students from diverse parts of the country, we also made a conscious effort to find students early in their undergraduate careers (freshman or sophomore). Moreover we have also spent considerable time and effort in recruiting minority applicants as well as female applicants. We have done very well in all aspects of these endeavors, in which 17% of our participants identified themselves as being minority, 43% were women, and 60% had just finished either their freshmen or sophomore year. Indicators of Success: (1) Retention in science: Retention was 93% with only two students no long doing science. (2) Publications and Presentations Involving REU Students: Eleven publications / presentations at national meetings with REU students have resulted from support by this program. (3) Percentage of Students Going Onto Graduate School or Working in Science: Of those still in science, ~45% of the participants are either in graduate school or have been accepted into graduate school. ~55% are still working toward their degrees. Most of those still in school say that they plan to attend graduate school but some plan to go into industry after graduation (data compiled from our REU Face Book page). (4) Contentment of Students During and After the Program: According to our surveys, student satisfaction was very high with averages both midway through the program and at the end of the program of ~4.2 out of a 5-point scale. (5) Percentage of Students From Underrepresented Demographic Groups: Of the 30 students we have had over the past three years, 13 were woman (43%) and 5 were from an underrepresented demographic group (17%). The later identify themselves as either African Americans or Hispanic Americans: (6) Improved Understanding of Scientific Process: Faculty surveys reported significant improvement in scientific understanding of all the students they have mentored (without exception). Moreover, the papers and conference abstracts that include REU participation seem to support those faculty evaluations. In terms of student polling, it is very interesting to note that on average students greatly overestimated the time they expected to spend "discussing their project with their mentors" and greatly underestimated the time they would spend reading the literature and discussing or writing about their findings. Most students did a good job estimating the time required for actually doing experiments. These results were consistent across most of the summer research programs at WSU and are indicative of the students becoming much more independent by the end of their REU experience. Also, having the ability to estimate the time required for certain tasks demonstrates improved understanding of the scientific process.
