9322221 Kent This award provides funds to establish an REU Site at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Salsbury Cove, Maine. Ten undergraduate biology students, the majority of whom are expected to be African-American, will spend eight weeks during the summer working at the bench, paired with a senior scientist leading a research team working on timely questions involving marine physiology. Using sharks, skates, flounder and other sea animals, students will explore questions involving marine physiology. Using sharks, skates, flounder and other sea animals, students will explore questions at the mechanistic level concerning reproduction, osmoregulation, acid base balance, and ion transport. Orientation lectures on basic concepts of marine physiology and molecular biology during the first week will be supplemented by weekly evening lectures on these subjects designed to encourage discussion by the students. Undergraduates will attend the three weekly laboratory-wide science seminars on topics related to marine physiology. They will participate in a special ethics course taught around expert lectures and group discussions of cases illustrating the ethical issues with which scientists are confronted. The research experience will be completed by each student giving a talk to the lab community on his/her results and writing a research paper for publication in the laboratory Bulletin. ***
