This award provides funds to the Department of Biology at the University of Massachusetts at Boston to continue a successful REU SITE. The program will give ten undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in research projects in ecology and conservation biology working with one of eight faculty sponsors in the Department. Students will be recruited intensively in the Boston area and also elsewhere in New England. The two major component of the program are complementary: (1) a series of lectures/discussions for all the students, and (2) individual research projects in which each student is closely associated with an advisor/mentor. Initial group meetings that address the theory and practice of research continue as weekly meetings at which students focus on topics that relate to the conduct of research or its implications They will also visit two or more field sites and learn directly about each others' projects A small hands-on workshop on molecular techniques will show the great potential of such methods for ecology An end-of- session retreat at the University Field Station will serve to articulate impressions, explore philosophical issues, and weave together some of the summers' threads. Potential research topics are will be suggested, several of which can effectively involve two or more undergraduates. The topics are focused on issues of biodiversity and conservation ecology but are intentionally diverse to illustrate several approaches They include three on the behavioral ecology of rare/endangered vertebrates, and others on the physiological ecology of Lepidoptera, the diversity of bacteria, the genetics of endangered plants, and the genetic diversity of deep-sea molluscs. At the end of the session each student will prepare a written and present a short paper in a mini-conference.
