This award provides funding for a new Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), located in Cocodrie, LA. The program will support six students per year during a ten week summer research program. Students will conduct independent research projects and participate in a series of seminars in marine sciences and career workshops. Student research projects at LUMCON will focus on the coastal zone environment that is being impacted by climate change and more direct human impacts, including fisheries, transportation, and industry. Coastal Louisiana may serve as an ideal model system to study these impacts because rates of environmental change here are substantially greater than many other coastal systems in the US and around the world. The goal of the proposed LUMCON REU site is to provide stimulating, challenging, and lasting research experiences for a highly qualified, diverse cohort of 6 undergraduate student participants from throughout the United States. In meeting this goal, specific objectives of the LUMCON REU program are to 1) expose students to a variety of research settings and disciplines of coastal and marine science, 2) facilitate the design, implementation and completion of individual, independent research projects, 3) train students in basic research skills in oral and written scientific presentation skills, 4) expose participants to the diversity of career paths that exist in science as well as a diverse ensemble of role models, 5) teach participants about the linkages between scientific research and ecosystem management, and 6) develop a cohort of future scientists through a common research experience and opportunities for both formal and informal exchange and communication between students and between students and mentors. NSF funding provides for student stipends, travel, room and board in the LUMCON dormitory, student research expenses and administrative costs.
