The purpose of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Fellowhsip at The Academy of Natural Sciences is to provide undergraduates with experience in collections-based research in a natural history museum environment in an effort to recruit new young researchers to pursue advanced degrees in the field of organismal and systematic biology. The REU program at the Academy fills a gap in traditional undergraduate training by providing a diverse and exciting research experience in a museum environment for students who may not be exposed to a research in the areas of systematics, evolution, and organismal biology. An additional goal of the program is to attract underserved minorities to our program and promote diversity in all areas of biological research. Students are recruited from colleges and universites from around the country through advertisements on the Internet and through direct mailing. Students at historically black colleges and universites (HBCU's) are a recruiting priority and direct contact with faculty at HBCU's is used to attract minority applicants. Each year, eight students are chosen on the basis of academic performance, overall interest in organismal biology, and the evaluations of two referees, for a 10-week summer fellowship. After a one-week introductory session in which students receive tours of all collections and academy facilities, students work on an independent research project with a Ph.D. scientist as his or her mentor. Topics for research projects range from systematic biology using traditional morphological and molecular techniques, to ecology, watershed monitoring, and the history of scientific collections. Students gain experience by working side-by-side with curators and senior scientists and are involved in all aspects of collections-based research including collection and curation of specimens, field expeditions, and dissemination of results orally and in a written paper. Most students publish their papers in peer reviewed scientific journals. Students also benefit from a variety of group activities including weekly seminars, social gatherings, a camping trip, and end-of-summer banquet. Natural history museums such as the Academy are becoming increasingly important for formal education in organismal biology because college and university biology departments are, on the whole, becoming more oriented toward cellular and molecular research. Because of this shift in emphasis in biology teaching there is a decline in numbers of specialists dedicated to collections-based, taxonomic and ecological research. Through the REU fellowship at the Academy undergraduate students gain valuable experience and education in organismal biology that they might not obtain at their undergraduate institution. Most students publish the results of their research and a majority of participants choose to pursue careers in systematics and organismal biology based on their REU experience at the Academy. Providing opportunities for undergraduate research to underserved minorities has the added benefit of increasing the diversity of students pursuing advanced degrees in the biological sciences, a change that will hopefully be reflected in an increase in the diversity of the scientific research community of the future.
