This REU Site award to the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, AR, will support the training of 10 undergraduate students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2017- 2019. Recruitment efforts will focus on 1) Tribal educational programs from Native-serving two-year colleges, four-year universities, and research universities, and 2) personal connections to the Tribal communities including service to aid the stewardship of Tribal environmental resources. Students will participate in structured lectures combined with laboratory and field research, and cultural enrichment activities that emphasize the process of science, the ethic of sustainability, sustainability of food, water, and energy systems, and the cultural connections of ecology with tribal traditions. Students will develop and complete an independent research project with the aid of their mentor(s), attend and present at a professional meeting, and complete a manuscript. Students will participate in responsible conduct of research training and ethics modules interspersed throughout the program. Applications should be submitted online (http://ecoreu.uark.edu/Application/index.htm). Two letters of recommendation need to be emailed or mailed directly from letter writers. Student participants will be selected by a committee composed of project principal investigators (PIs) and mentors. Students from minority groups, those with disabilities, and those with limited access to research are strongly encouraged to apply.
Statement on Broader Impacts: It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily Native American and other minorities under-represented in science and engineering fields, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences.
A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU Site programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program is available by visiting http://ecoreu.uark.edu , or by contacting the PI (Dr. Michelle Evans-White at mevanswh@uark.edu) or the co-PIs (Dr. Brian Haggard at haggard@uark.edu and Dr. Marty Matlock at mmatlock@uark.edu).
