This award provides renewed funding for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Center For Great Lakes Studies (CGLS). The REU site provides environmental aquatic science research training for nationally-recruited students in a cohesive, multidisciplinary environment. The program will support nine students/summer during a ten week summer research program. Students interested in chemistry, geology, and biology of lake and ocean settings are paired with mentors supervising active research laboratories. Together they develop a program of study compatible with the advisor's interests and capabilities within one of the active interdisciplinary research programs. Workshops on graduate school and career opportunities, writing and public presentation of results, and related topics will be offered. At the close of the 10-week session, each of the students will present a poster and oral talk describing their work to a public audience. They will write a detailed paper in the format of a typical journal article. Students will also be encouraged to present their work at professional conferences.
Twenty-seven undergraduate Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students from Colleges and Universities across the nation participated in real-life aquatic science research during the summers of 2010-2012. During each 10-week session, 9 students were paired with mentors in their focus area for a summer of hands-on hypothesis-testing research involving Lake Michigan and/or other water science projects. All participated in several daylong expeditions on a research vessel to learn basic techniques in aquatic sampling and analysis, including use of both standard and high-tech research tools. Federal support included round trip transportation from home or school to Milwaukee; shared dorm room with fully functional kitchen and air conditioning; parking permit or bus tickets for daily commuting; health clinic access; expendable hardware for dorm kitchen and ethernet cable; separate computer facility for research use; allotment for supplies and expendables for mentor; and several days of research vessel time for experiential expeditions. Academically, participants received training in chemical, animal use, and radiation safety; ethical behavior in research; writing and responding to application opportunities for jobs and graduate schools; presentation using written, poster, and short oral formats; diversity in research personnel and activities; and a variety of seminar and local conference topics. Intellectual Merit components were many and diverse. Students contributed to a long-term data set for large water body interdisciplinary studies accomplished in part by students from this program over a 20-year period, and saw distinct effects of invasive species, major weather events, and human manipulation. This approach intentionally exposed students to a cohesive, highly interdisciplinary time-series study that some used as the focus of their individual or team projects. Groups of students from within REU and among REU and other undergraduate research experience programs developed self-confidence and team-building skills for some participants, while others matured within specific individual areas of study. Undergraduate research students from another National Science Foundation program for mathematics-biology collaboration, and from the McNair program for underrepresented students worked in teams with REU students, undergraduate hourly employees, high school students and faculty-staff to accomplish complex projects. A major review article was published at the end of the program citing its contribution to science and education. The major goals of the program were almost exclusively related to Broader Impacts on the aquatic science workforce. Final presentations were of very high quality and were often mistaken for graduate student products. More than 50 people from outside the host unit attended each year, and at least one student was supported for presentation at an annual professional society meeting. Each year several participants stated that their experience had encouraged them to pursue advanced study towards a better career path in aquatic sciences, while others agreed that it reinforced their pre-existing plans for graduate school. In the middle of the three-year program, the host unit was elevated to a School granting graduate degrees in aquatic science, providing an unusual suite of experiences for participants, including faculty interviews; facilities improvement and construction; increased presence of post-Baccalaureate students; frequent academic contributions from outside investigators; and other benefits. The goal of the program, to provide a career-enhancing complete professional research experience for undergraduate students, was achieved.
