An award has been made to the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and Cornell University to continue a Research Experience for Undergraduates Sites (REU) program, which has been running every summer since 2005. This REU program will provide plant molecular biology research experience to twelve undergraduate students for ten weeks each year, for the summers of 2011-2013. The program seeks to attract undergraduate students from minority-serving institutions and small colleges where scientific research opportunities are less readily available. Students who are interested in research careers and have not yet completed their undergraduate degrees will join scientists on the Cornell University campus to conduct cutting-edge research in plant molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry. Typical student research projects will involve gene cloning and characterization, functional genomics, expression of foreign genes in plants, analysis of plant metabolites, or bioinformatics. The student research experience will be enriched by scientific ethics training, weekly faculty research lectures, discussion of graduate school and career options, tours of BTI and Cornell research facilities, and a field day at local research farms. Students will develop skills in scientific communication by writing and critiquing research proposals at the beginning of the program, as well as by presenting their results in the form of a seminar at the end. The impact of summer research training will be assessed through evaluations at the beginning and end of the program. Less formal discussions with the students and their mentors in the course of the summer will be used to monitor their progress. In addition, students will evaluate the program utilizing an REU common assessment tool. More information can be obtained from the program website (www.bti.cornell.edu/pgrp), as well as by contacting the program coordinator (Tiffany Fleming, pgrp-ourtreach@cornell.edu, 607-254-6732), the PI (Georg Jander, jander@cornell.edu), or the Co-PI (Jian Hua, jh299@cornell.edu).
Rapid advances in genome assembly, genotyping by high-throughput sequencing, and other new technologies are revolutionizing both plant research and agricultural production methods. Traditional breeding programs have been accelerated by the development of molecular markers, and genetically engineered crops now make up the majority of the planted acreage in the United States. To take full advantage of the available plant genomic resources, generate further scientific breakthroughs in academia and industry, and maintain the leading position of the United States in agricultural biotechnology, it is imperative that the next generation of students be trained to design and implement experiments using cutting-edge research methods. In particular, there is a need to train biologists with interdisciplinary skills who can take full advantage of the immense biological data sets that are being generated through genome sequencing, metabolomics, quantitative genetics, and other high-throughput research approaches. To address the need for undergraduate education in plant research, funding from the National Science foundation was used to implement a plant-focused Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site at the Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, and the USDA Holley Center for Agriculture and Health (http://bti.cornell.edu/education/internships/). All of the more than twenty faculty members who have participated in this project make use of genomics research methods to investigate fundamental and applied aspects of plant biology. Plants that are being studied by the faculty participants include model systems such as mouse ear cress and barrel medic, as well as important agricultural crops such as maize, rice, soybeans, potatoes, and tomatoes. Over a period of four years, 56 students conducted ten-week summer internships in the laboratories of the participating faculty members. These summer interns were recruited from colleges and universities throughout the United States. Particular emphasis was placed on academic excellence and the involvement of students who otherwise had limited opportunities to conduct laboratory research. Among the past program participants, 57% were from small colleges without extensive research programs, 37% were first-generation college students, and 39% were underrepresented minority students. On average, summer interns had completed 2.3 years of college before participating in this REU program. The impact of the REU award was increased by the fact that thirty students with research funding from other sources participated fully in the educational aspects of the summer internship program. Summer interns learned to design and implement experiments that take full advantage of available plant genome resources, as well as cutting-edge molecular and biochemical research methods. They were trained to investigate novel aspects of plant biology by combining hands-on laboratory and field experiments with bioinformatic analysis of large data sets. Each summer, two discussion sections focused on ethical issues related to student research, including topics such as scientific misconduct, authorship on publications, maintenance of laboratory records, and plant genetic engineering. Weekly faculty research lectures provided students with a broad overview of plant molecular biology research. At the end of each summer, students presented their results in the form of a talk or a poster as part of a research symposium at the Boyce Thompson Institute. Student surveys at the end of each summer program showed that most of the REU students attained a good (20%) or great (74%) gain in their understanding of laboratory research, 89% had an increased interest in plant biology, and 93% had a moderate to great gain in their confidence to do research. Most interns (92%) "agree" or "strongly agree" that the internship program helped to prepare them for graduate school, and 85% were more likely to go to graduate school due to their experiences at this REU site. After completion of the internship program, students are contacted on a regular basis to ask about presentation of their results at meetings, research publications, entry into graduate school, and progress in scientific careers. Among past participants of the Boyce Thompson Institute plant research internship program (not limited to the current award), 90% were tracked for at least five years and 80% attended graduate school in some area of science. The implementation of a plant-focused REU program has increased the number of undergraduate students who have been exposed to plant molecular biology, bioinformatics, and plant genomics research. Through their summer plant research at the Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, and the USDA Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, these students have become better prepared for graduate school and future research careers in academia, industry, or government service.
