An award has been made to The University of Arkansas that will provide research training for 10 weeks for 10 students, during the summers of 2011-2013. This program will provide an integrated research experience for three cohort groups of 10 undergraduate students each working with federally recognized Native American Tribes in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Faculty mentors are an interdisciplinary team from seven departments, including Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Anthropology, Biology, Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Sciences, and Geosciences. Each cohort year will begin with a one-week emersion course on Experimental Design followed by an eight week Research Experience and a seminar series on Exploration of Sustainability Ethics across cultures, concluding with a one week intensive program in Data Analysis and Scientific Communications where they will draft, review, revise, and submit written and oral reports of their work. Students will explore the concepts of ecological services and cultural and economic values of ecosystem functions. This REU will take students through the process of developing testable hypotheses, collecting data, analyzing data, and communicating results BOTH in oral and in written form. This experience will integrate classroom and field research within each cohort with sustainable management of ecosystem services. More than 50 students have participated in this program in the past five years. The cohort groups of 10 undergraduate students each will work with a faculty advisor from the Project Team. Information about the program will be assessed by various means, including use of an REU common assessment tool. More information is available by visiting www.ecoreu.uark.edu , or by contacting the PI (Dr. Marty Matlock at mmatlock@uark.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Michelle Evans-White at mevanswh@uark.edu).
was conducted during the summer from 2011 to 2013. The goals of this REU were to expose undergraduate students to the scientific research process by taking them through the steps of developing testable hypotheses, data collection and analysis, and scientific communication in the form of oral presentations and written manuscripts. A group of ten undergraduate students from across the country attended the program each year, which began with a three-day immersion course in Experimental Design and Exploration of Sustainability Ethics, followed by an eight-week Research Experience module and a one-week Data Analysis and Scientific Communication intensive module. This REU program sought to provide research opportunities for minority students that are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; specifically Native Americans were targeted. Moreover, this program aimed to foster stronger ties between the University of Arkansas and various tribal groups that neighbor Northwest Arkansas. Efforts were made to recruit Native American students by distributing informational materials to tribal colleges in the region and through the professional contacts of faculty who worked with this program in previous years. Throughout the duration of the program, 48% of participants were Native American students, proving the program to be a success. During the first week of the REU, students participated in seminars to prepare them for immediate engagement with their projects. The group participated in courses such as "Proposal Writing and Scientific Publications," "Scientific Method and Experimental Design," and "Lab Documentation," to prepare them to take part in an intensive scientific process. Additionally, overviews on ecosystem services and agricultural economics provided students with a framework for understanding potential implications of REU research. The Ethics and Research component focused on exploring ethics topics, such as authorship and publication practices, use of animal and human subjects, research misconduct, relationship dilemmas and academic integrity, which are pertinent to REU students conducting research. Seminars were utilized throughout the summer to satisfy the goals of Module One and were administered on Wednesday afternoons. In the first few weeks, seminars exposed students to topics that would assist them in preparation for graduate school, including "Applying to Graduate School" and "Graduate School Funding," as well as interview and resume workshops. Additionally, students joined a webinar hosted by the National Science Foundation that focused on the application process for Graduate Research Fellowships. Students also attended a seminar on "Urban Ecosystem Services" that took place at Mullins Creek on the University of Arkansas campus, where they learned about the ecosystem services provided by small urban streams and the impact on these systems. Participants were invited to attend several field trips throughout the summer to enhance their experience. Field trips were planned to expose students to local cultural and professional diversity, and served as an opportunity for students to socialize with each other and establish networking. Students were assigned projects based on areas of interest and educational backgrounds. University of Arkansas faculty provided mentorship as well as resources and graduate personnel to supervise field and lab work. The Principal Investigator established project benchmarks to compel students to make measured progress throughout the experimentation process. Students were responsible for creating original project documentation and abstracts. Students submitted research proposals and literature reviews early in the program to demonstrate general understanding of the project. REU staff carried out weekly meetings with students about project progress to ensure that each student was staying on track. By late June, each student isolated a target publication and penned the first draft of his or her project manuscript detailing methods and procedures. Project mentors assisted students with statistical assessments of individual data, and students incorporated analyses and conclusions into their manuscripts. Students prepared at least two drafts that were reviewed and returned with comments from project mentors before submitting a final draft. The final module of the Ecosystem Services REU at the University of Arkansas included instruction on data analysis as well as both written and oral communication detailing the results of students’ investigations. Instructions on scientific communications included the workshops on oral presentations and manuscript preparation. The final result was a manuscript and an oral presentation delivered during the last week of the program at an REU Expo on the University of Arkansas campus. Although students presented findings at an official REU Expo, the final stage of conveying research results is an on-going process. Students who finished with particularly strong deliverables will submit manuscripts to peer-reviewed publications and will pursue invitations to conferences based on their work with the REU.
