This Research Experience for Undergraduates Site project, Training American Indians in Environmental Biology - 2, has four objectives. It will: (1) Increase the number of American Indian students entering graduate school and careers in environmental biology by providing research experiences and mentoring; (2) Expand the existing collaborative relationship between the University of Montana (UM) and Salish Kootenai College (SKC) to include the other tribal colleges in the state; (3) Increase the knowledge of UM faculty and students about minority issues; and (4) Disseminate throughout Indian country the relevance of training in environmental biology. It will provide support to expand and improve an existing NSF-funded program, Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology: Project TRAIN by providing support for eight additional summer fellowships and increasing the number of fellowships from six to fourteen per summer. Students will be recruited from Montana's seven tribal colleges and those from other tribal colleges in the region.
The summer research experience will consist of an eight-week program, with possible extension to 12 weeks based on student interest and performance as well as project requirements. Each fellow will participate in an independent research project under the supervision of an academic mentor. Fellows will have the opportunity to choose from a broad array of topics in Environmental Biology. Faculty and staff from both UM and SKC will conduct a summer course in research methods as well as arranging orientation and other events as part of a multilayered mentoring structure where students interact with faculty, previous program participants and one another.
