REU Site: Pathways to Inclusive Science: Emerging Field Techniques

This REU Site award to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, located in Gothic, Colorado, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summer of 2023. The program recruits students nationally, building on established collaborative relationships with the Los Angeles community colleges. Students apply online, and submit essays and letters of reference. Students for whom the program will have a large impact, including students who would be unable to participate in summer research without financial support, are encouraged to apply. Ten students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program in 2023. The goal is that at least 80% of the participants will be minority students and at least 40% of the students will have a community college background. Students will learn how research is conducted, many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Approximately one-third of the students will publish results in scientific journals. Assessment of the program will be done through the online SALG URSSA tool. The NSF ETAP system will be used to register participants. Students will be required to register in the NSF ETAP system (etap.nsf.gov) and tracked after the program to determine their career paths. The theme of the program is Pathways to Inclusive Science: Emerging Field Techniques. We will provide training and research opportunities for participants to integrate emerging techniques in remote sensing and data analytics into the field sciences. Students design and implement a field research program and present results orally and in writing at the end of the summer. Students also participate in professional development opportunities, including sessions on responsible conduct of research, training in field safety and Title IX, and graduate and career opportunities. More information about the program is available by visiting http://rmbl.org , or by contacting the PI (Dr. Ian Billick at ibillick@rmbl.org) or the co-PI (Dr. Ian Breckheimer at ikb@rmbl.org). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.