Northern Arizona University will partner with three local tribal colleges (Dine' College, Crownpoint Institute of Technology, and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute) to host an NSF-REU site focusing on environmental science research. Recruitment will focus on tribal colleges and community colleges in northern Arizona and New Mexico that are known to have large Native American and Hispanic enrollments. We will utilize existing agreements with these colleges to identify the students who will most likely continue their education in a science field. Students for the program will be selected based on their performance in science classes and their demonstrated interest in pursuing a scientific career.
Eight students will be selected to participate in the 10-week research program which will coincide with NAU's 10 week summer school session. In addition to opportunities for undergraduate research, NAU's REU program will include components on scientific writing, data analysis and interpretation, communication skills, scientific reasoning and ethics. A social program will foster ongoing personal relationships among the students and with their mentors. Because the majority of the students recruited for the program are currently enrolled in either tribal colleges or community colleges, which do not offer Bachelor's degrees, it is likely that the researchers will continue their education at Northern Arizona University. The research mentors have significant external research funding; therefore, it is anticipated that the REU students will be able to continue their research activities in the academic year, after completion of the summer REU program. Moreover, because the research mentors are well established, it is anticipated that a significant number of participants will become co-authors on scientific publications.
Based on the success of similar programs at NAU, we believe that NAU's summer REU program will significantly increase the number of Native Americans entering science careers. Point-of-contact for the NAU Summer REU Program is Dr. Richard D. Foust, Jr., at 928-523-7077 or Richard.Foust@nau.edu.
