This REU opportunity at the University of Toledo's Lake Erie Center will give students the opportunity to collaborate with faculty on an environmental problem of global significance by using the Maumee River watershed as a test case. A ten-week summer program will expose students to the environmental degradation of the Maumee watershed, the major environmental and social processes involved in that degradation, and the related policy/legal issues. Students will be drawn from all over the United States, with particular attention paid to students from universities which primarily serve groups underrepresented in science. Students will then be teamed with a faculty mentor to conduct a research project that will evaluate a specific aspect of environmental degradation/land use change, demographic/social factors, or the policy implications of a particular problem. The final week of the research experience will consist of a student project symposium in which students will present their research results and discuss the overarching processes that unify their research efforts. Guest professionals will attend these meetings and will also provide an overview of the significance of environmental/policy research training for real-world careers. In addition, these community partners will evaluate individual projects as well as the overall program.
