This NSF award supports a new REU Site program: Microbiology: From Atoms to Ecosystems at the University of Minnesota. As a field, microbiology lies at the foundation of many other biological sciences, and it takes advantage of many levels and modes of inquiry. Thus, a research experience in microbiology can serve to underpin future academic or private-sector research in other natural sciences including ecology, biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology. For the next 3 years, undergraduates will be recruited from across the country, with an emphasis on those from underrepresented groups and/or from colleges with limited research opportunities. The 10-week summer program will include a variety of activities, including a weekend orientation session at the Lake Itasca Biological Research Station, a 5-day Microbiology mini-course on basic laboratory skills, workshops to discuss research ethics, and an end of summer University-wide poster symposium. The core of the experience will be an independent research project, conducted under the mentorship of one of more than 25 faculty members affiliated with the program. Students will be housed in campus dormitories and participate in a variety of social, cultural and recreational activities designed to foster student-student and student-faculty interactions. With its overt emphasis on scientific communication and mentoring, participants (undergraduate, doctoral and postdoctoral) in the program will become effective communicators of science to the public at large and will serve as scientifically literate role models and mentors to recruit new students to the sciences and further enhance diversity. More information is available at www.cbs.umn.edu/main/summer_research/, or by contacting Dr. Leslie Schiff (schif002@umn.edu) or Dr. Christian Mohr (mohrx005@umn.edu).
