Project: REU Site: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences - Undergraduate Research Experience in the Gulf of Maine and the World Ocean

NSF Award Abstract:

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, in West Boothbay Harbor - Maine, plans to implement an REU site that will support 10 students each year, for the next 5 years. This REU program will combine group learning and guided individual research to help students address societal issues concerning the oceans. The goals of this REU Program are i) to provide undergraduate students from around the United States mentoring and access to high quality, hands on research opportunities in Oceanography and the opportunity to understand its interdisciplinary nature, ii) improve the capability and confidence of students to learn independently, iii) help to prepare undergraduates for their professional careers, and iv) increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in marine science careers. REU students will be incorporated into research groups consisting of technicians, post-docs, and junior and senior scientists, gaining exposure to the suite of activities and personalities involved in a science career. The recruitment goal is to engage students from all groups underrepresented in ocean sciences, such that cohorts are ~ 40% underrepresented students (including 1st generation college students). To achieve the recruitment goals, the principal investigator will work with partner organizations, like the Institute for Broadening Participation and Maine Community College System. Program content and delivery will continually be refined based on feedback from students and mentors in the form of pre-program, midpoint and final evaluations.

As a group, students will participate in a sampling cruise on the local estuary, and attend weekly meetings to learn the fundamentals of the scientific process, such as how to form testable hypotheses, critically evaluate data, and present information in a scientific manner to their peers and to the public. Students will attend an ethics in science discussion, a laboratory safety course with risk assessment training and a concept mapping workshop during the early stages of their project. Students participate in and become familiar with public outreach through attendance at Bigelow's weekly Café Scientifique talks (for the general public), participation in the Lab's Open House and frequent public tours.

Continuing Award