This award provides renewed funding for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site that will provide a Fall semester (twelve weeks) research experience in oceanography for a total of seven students. The REU site is located at the Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory (DISL), a permanent field station located in the Gulf of Mexico about four miles off the coast of Alabama. The DISL provides courses and research facilities for students and faculty from twenty-two colleges and universities in Alabama. Participants in the REU program will be recruited nationally and matched with a faculty mentor. Under the guidance of the faculty mentors, the students will design, implement, analyze and report on independent laboratory and field research. Research areas include aspects of the ecology and early life history stages of marine fishes and invertebrates; coral reef ecology; evolution of benthic communities; the ecology of seagrass ecosystems; marine conservation biology; the role of microorganisms in transforming organic and inorganic compounds in marine systems; and phytoplankton and zooplankton ecology. In addition, the program holds seminars on career opportunities and scientific ethics. In the past, the program has successfully attracted disabled and minority participants typically under-represented in the marine sciences. Cost-sharing will be provided by the DISL.
