This award from the Division of Chemistry (CHE) supports a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC) for the summers of 2009-2011. The REU site will be directed by Alan Gengenbach from the UWEC Department of Chemistry. Eight undergraduate students will conduct research for 10 weeks under the direct supervision of their faculty mentors. Research opportunities in the areas of analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, biochemistry and materials science are available. The primary objective of this REU site is to provide a bridge between UWEC and regional two-year institutions including Minneapolis Community and Technical College, St. Paul College and the UW Colleges. These partnering institutions will help identify talented students who will increase the quality and diversity of the students conducting summer research in the UWEC chemistry department. A weekly seminar series will cover a variety of topics such as scientific careers, the role of science in public policy and effective communication of scientific ideas. Each REU participant will present the results of their research work at an end-of-summer symposium.
The REU site award tothe University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC) provided summer research opportunities in chemistry to undergraduate students. In our program, the participating students were selected from two groups. The "outside" students were recruited from regional two-year community colleges and the "inside" students were students from UWEC. The "inside" and "outside" students were paired and conducted original experiments in chemistry or biochemistry under the direction of a UWEC faculty member. Therefore, this program provided a different experience for these two groups of students. Importantly, the "outside" students conducted hands-on chemistry research, an experience that is either not available or very limited at their home, two-year institutions. In addition to conducting research, the "inside" students were given the opportunity to serve as student mentors for the "outside" students. This project had several broader impacts. A total of 12 outside students were given a research opportunity they would not have had in the absence of the grant. Many of these students were non-traditional students starting a second degree program or students from underrepresented minority groups. Attracting students from these groups into careers in science research is important for maintaining the technically literate workforce required if the US is to stay competitive in an increasingly interconnected global marketplace. The participating UWEC students were given the opportunity to mentor and train their peers. The ability to train peers and work in a group setting will be an asset to these students as they transition to the workforce. Finally, the student recruitment process helped foster connections between UWEC faculty and the faculty at the community colleges in Minnesota and Wisconsin. These connections can only enhance the quality of the education provided at both UWEC and the partnering institutions. The intellectual merit of the project lies in the scientific advances resulting from the research projects. The REU students conducted research in several existing UWEC research groups. Dr. Alan Gengenbach mentored 4 pairs of students on research projects concerning the degradation of environmental pollutants. Primarily, his REU students focused on developing methods for removing sulfur from fossil fuels. Dr. Warren Gallagher and Dr. Scott Hartsel each mentored two pairs of students on projects related to understanding the structure and function of unique metal-containing molecules isolated from bacteria that play an important role in the global carbon cycle. Dr. Kurt Wiegel mentored two pairs of students and these students synthesized and characterized liquid crystalline materials. Liquid crystals are unique molecules that show properties of both liquids and solids. Dr. Jim Phillips mentored a pair of students studying the structure-property relationships in a class of compounds called donor-acceptor complexes. This research seeks to address the fundamental question, "what is a chemical bond?" Dr. Bart Dahl mentored one pair of students working to synthesize molecules that can serve as molecular switches. This research is important for the advancement of nanotechnology.
