Ecology REU Program

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Miami University has a summer research program for undergraduates in Ecology, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program. Our REU Program was recently renewed for a third three-year term (2009-2011) and this year’s students will be arriving next week. Each student is paired with a faculty mentor from a range of departments like Botany, Zoology, and Geography. I will be working with a student this summer- the fourth student I have advised for REU. I am also now on the steering committee for our REU program, so I was involved in writing the proposal for the renewal, selecting student applicants, and helping with other planning.

I am always impressed with the students that participate in our program. My three former students are all in graduate school now (the student from last summer will be starting this fall) and I have even been able to publish with one of them (and another REU student is second author on that paper!) I’m looking forward to meeting this year’s students and seeing what interesting projects they will do. I’m sure I will post some updates here over the next couple of months.

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