This Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program is located at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) in Narragansett, RI. Named the "Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships in Oceanography" (SURFO) program, the REU Site is a 10-week research/educational program designed to expose 12 undergraduates per year to cutting-edge, authentic, oceanographic research. Each student will work with a research advisor and graduate student to develop/conduct a research project in an area of oceanography appropriate to each student's background and interests. The research or educational niche filled by the SURFO program deals with the more quantitative aspects of oceanography, which closely parallels the strengths of GSO. The research projects undertaken by participants are typically part of a separately funded research program, but the student project focuses on an interesting aspect of the research that was not anticipated. Many of the student projects result in important initial findings for subsequent research proposals or publications. Numerous research seminars and professional development workshops are conducted specifically for the SURFOs. At the end of the summer, students present their results during a student research symposium and they write a research paper. Students and advisors are strongly encouraged to continue the projects for presentation at national/regional meetings or submission to refereed journals.
The site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.
