This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The University of Akron REU Site will provide exciting summer research opportunities to undergraduate students from across the country during the summers of 2009-2011. Six students will be selected each year to participate in an intensive 10-week research program in ecology at the urban-rural interface. The program will be centered at the University of Akron Field Station, a 434 acre facility located on the western border of the 33,000 acre Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Students will learn about the history of the Cuyahoga Valley and the Cuyahoga River, formerly known as the "burning river". By working on a gradient from rural to urban, students will learn how to integrate human ecology into biological research from a variety of perspectives and spatial scales. Students will be recruited nationally, with an emphasis on students from underrepresented groups. Participants will work closely with a faculty mentor of their choosing and will be actively involved in all aspects of the research process: generating hypotheses, collecting data, summarizing and evaluating results, and communicating their research to academic audiences as well as the general public. Students will take field trips to important ecological and cultural sites in the region, participate in weekly brown bag lunch seminars, and present the results of their research at a concluding symposium. The goal of the program is to develop independent thinkers and competent young scientists, well prepared for graduate school or scientific careers. Additional information can be found at www3.uakron.edu/biology/fieldstation/reu.htm or by contacting the Program Director, Dr. Randy Mitchell at 330-972-5122 or rjm2@uakron.edu.
