The REU program in Marine Bioscience is held at the Whitney Laboratory, University of Florida, located near the town of St. Augustine in pristine northeast Florida. From its inception in 1986, this REU program has had two major objectives: 1) to provide interns with a realistic and professional research experience; and 2) to make interns aware of the value of marine animals and other comparative model systems in fundamental biological research. With the guidance of experienced mentors, interns work independently on a project selected from topics in neurobiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, biochemistry, genomics and nanotechnology. Generally, interns work with marine model systems such as horseshoe crabs, lobsters, mollusks, cnidarians and non-marine invertebrates. Projects are sculpted from ongoing research efforts yet are distinct. Interns attend lectures on the diverse research programs at the Laboratory and participate in weekly discussions on ethical scientific conduct and workshops on lab safety, notebook maintenance and scientific communication. Scientific communication workshops help interns become proficient in preparing and presenting materials for seminars, posters and manuscripts. Interns are briefed on the process of applying to graduate school by the directors of University of Florida graduate school programs, and finally, students are introduced to the art of working with school children by assisting in local marine science enrichment programs. In summary, interns can expect an intense research and professional development experience that will help them achieve the next level of scientific expertise and confidence. Intense work is accompanied by scheduled leisure activities including picnics, canoe excursions in the local marshes, and field trips to three different Florida marine environments. The program will accept 8 students for an 11-week summer session. Students are recruited from colleges and universities throughout the United States and territories, with special emphasis on schools traditionally populated by students under-represented in the sciences and from schools that lack graduate programs in the biological sciences. For more information contact Jessica Roberts-Misterly, the education coordinator, at 904-461-4011 or Jessica@whitney.ufl.edu, or visit: www.whitney.ufl.edu/reu/undergrad.htm.
The Undergraduate Research Training Program in Marine Bioscience at University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory (2007-2011) had two major aims: (1) to provide undergraduates with a realistic and professional research experience that will reinforce their interest in basic research or motivate them to consider basic research as a career option, and (2) to make students aware of the value of marine animals and other comparative model systems in fundamental biological research. We sought to train students for whom the REU experience has been shown to have the greatest impact: students from four year colleges with limited access to research training, students with no prior research training, students from groups currently underrepresented in the sciences, students who have completed less than three years of college and first generation college students. During the five year granting period we trained 46 students from 21 different states and Puerto Rico. Of these 87% had no prior research training, 61% were from four-year colleges, 46% were first or second year undergraduates, 59% were women, 30% were from underrepresented groups and 15% were first generation college students. Supplements to this grant also supported the research training of an African American high school teacher in molecular biology and two African American high school students. Each student worked on a different project that contributed to the larger research effort of the laboratory in which they were mentored. In this way students became an integral part of the overall research effort. Students worked on projects which provided them training in advanced techniques in one or more of the following areas: cell biology, molecular biology, developmental biology, biochemistry, neurobiology, genomics, bioinformatics. All gained experience using marine or other non-mammalian models in their research and an understanding of the value of comparative approaches for understanding basic questions in biology. In addition to conducting research, students received training in scientific communication and research ethics. Students also visited coordinators of different graduate programs on the University of Florida’s main campus to gain insight into how to successfully apply to graduate programs. Finally, our residential program includes picnics, bonfires on the beach, and field trips into Florida’s diverse marine, estuarine and freshwater environments. At the end of the 11 week program, each student produced a manuscript, a poster and an oral power point presentation in which they described their work. Many of our students won awards for their work at national undergraduate research conferences, 10 earned co-authorship on published abstracts and 8 co-authored full peer-reviewed publications. Several additional publications co-authored by undergraduate trainees are currently in preparation. As one mechanism for measuring the long-term impact of the REU program, we have tracked former students to determine their career choices. We are gratified that of the students who trained during the past 5 years and who have now graduated from college, 6% are training for or have received Masters degrees, 9% are currently working as technicians in a science filed, 25% are or are in training to become physicians and 40% have received a PhD degree in the sciences or are currently enrolled in a PhD program.
