This award will support the participation of 10 undergraduate students each year in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program offered by Southwestern Missouri State University. This is an exciting program that offers opportunities for research experience in tropical studies. Participants will learn and develop research skills by interacting with faculty as they work on projects dealing with tropical vertebrate communities in Mexico. To foster student development, a three-phase program is planned: 1) Orientation - introducing students to research methodology and ecological studies in Mexico; 2) Apprenticeship - developing skills; and 3) Individual research - resulting in publication-quality reports. Seminars on research and graduate studies are included to facilitate applications of acquired knowledge and skills to participants' future academic pursuits; presentations will be made by scientists in both the United States and Mexico. Faculty mentors will "coach" students, instilling a vision of research by explaining the rules of science and delivering a feeling of the excitement that comes with addressing questions with conceptual orientations. The theme or focus of the program is vertebrate communities. To capitalize on faculty expertise, students will be encouraged to choose projects involving fishes, amphibians, reptiles, or mammals, although studies of other organisms are possible. Investigations may address aspects of niche dimensions, behavior, parasitic infections, or systematics. Students may choose projects within these topics or develop investigations of their own. This award will foster the continued education and training of individuals who will be part of the next generation of basic researchers in tropical ecology. With global attention focused of the loss of biodiversity , especially in the tropics, this is an area of critical concern for the sustained economic development and, in fact, the cultural survival of many developing nations.
