The Building Undergraduate ENvironmental Opportunities (BUENO) program will be conducted at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, a Hispanic Serving Institution. The goal of BUENO is to increase the number of under-represented students in environmental biology careers. This goal will be achieved through year-round faculty mentoring, student research and special activities, including training in field methodology, workshops to enhance critical thinking, communication and professional skills, development of scientific and environmental ethics awareness, development of teaching skills through Teaching Assistant responsibilities in freshman biology labs, and preparation for graduate school. Students are groomed to become role models. The UMEB Program features one-on-one mentoring, hands-on research experiences, formal coursework, a journal club, presentations at meetings, outreach activities, a GRE Prep course and a BUENO thesis. Research projects, under the theme of anthropogenic impacts on the environment, include conservation biology, ecological management, effects of pollution and remediation strategies, and habitat destruction and restoration. Mentoring model includes faculty and peer student interaction, where experienced BUENO students will mentor novice BUENO students, other undergraduate researchers and K-12 students through outreach activities. Recruitment for BUENO will begin each spring and will target second semester under-represented sophomores. Selection criteria include: U.S. citizenship/permanent residency; motivation; potential for success; completion of 24 semester credit hours by the end of the spring semester; a GPA >2.8; and personal interview. Four rising sophomores will enter the program each of the four years. Two cohorts of four BUENO students (eight students total) will have graduated by the conclusion of the funding period. The rising juniors and rising sophomores who are in the program in Year 4 will be migrated to other sources of funds through their senior years. The intense faculty-student interactions are expected to promote retention and graduation rates and entrance in environmental careers. For more information, contact Drs. Suzzette Chopin (schopin@falcon.tamucc.edu/ 361-825-6022) or Eugene Billiot (ebilliot@falcon.tamucc.edu/ 361-825-2680).
Broader Impacts BUENO program goals were: to provide authentic research experiences; faculty and peer mentoring; preparation for graduate school; and training in professional skills. Criteria for acceptance included interest in graduate school and a minimum 2.8 GPA; sophomores and minority students were preferred. Students delivered poster and oral presentations of their research, participated in outreach projects to encourage pre-college students’ interest in science and were encouraged to continue their post-baccalaureate education in science. Students submitted a BUENO thesis in March of their senior year. Seventeen students were admitted to the program. One student withdrew and one student was dismissed for non-performance; both of these students were non-Hispanic white females. Of the 15 students who completed the program, eight were females, seven were males; six were Hispanic whites and nine were non-Hispanic whites. Intellectual Merit Of the 15 students who completed the program: ?one is still an undergraduate who plans to apply to graduate schools; one graduated in December 2011 and has applied to PhD programs; four are in science jobs (one will attend graduate school in September and one is ?applying to graduate programs; the other two still have plans to attend graduate school); and nine are in or have completed graduate programs. BUENO students delivered 92 presentations, have one publication in revision for Aquatic Biology and one publication submitted to Oecologia.
