Progress 03/01/24 to 02/28/25
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:Another improvement made this year was hosting "ask me anything" meetings to improve communications. The graduate assistant hosted pre-program virtual meetings to help Fellows navigate travel logistics and select potential host labs. To address a previous misconception that the leadership team was not as engaged in the program, weekly emails of program activities were sent from faculty director Brewer (as in Year 1) instead of the graduate assistant (as in Year 2). One challenge that occurred this year was that a Fellow needed to be re-assigned to a different faculty mentor and lab mid-program due to a conflict with their junior mentor. After joining the lab of the new faculty mentor, the Fellow was much happier and more engaged in the program. Another challenge was that two Fellows refused to participate in the on-farm visits. To address this issue in the future, we will request applicants check a box indicating that they will actively participate in the field trips, including on-farm visits where they will work with plants and soil. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Seminars and Workshops. Mentoring workshop: A series of four mentoring professional development sessions were offered to all faculty and junior mentors. The first session, held on May 17th prior to the start of the program, provided an introduction to mentoring and discussed topics pertinent to aligning expectations. The second session, held on May 24th, covered effective mentor-mentee communication. The third session, held on May 31st, addressed promoting belonging, and the fourth session, held on June 3rd, discussed how to assess mentee understanding and develop independence. Overall, 82% of junior and faculty mentors have completed mentor training. ?Career seminars: To learn about career options in the plant sciences and the different paths available, the Fellows participated in eight, 1-hour career seminars organized weekly throughout the program. The seminars alternated between networking luncheons with a broad representation of graduate students and discussion sessions hosting a range of plant science professionals. Presenters included a government scientist working on chemical analysis of biomass and bio-derived fuels at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a research scientist for the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, a plant breeding scientist for Corteva Agriscience, the Interim Associate Dean for Extension for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia, and the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at UGA. Science communication: On five Wednesday mornings during the program, the Fellows participated in 1.5-hour science communication workshops. They learned what science communication is, the varied forms it takes, and how to effectively communicate with the public and other scientists. As part of the workshops, the students developed their own 4-entry blogs where they worked on communicating with the public about topics including their research projects, learning new techniques in the lab, and the organic farm and farmers' market visits. The information from their blogs was incorporated into the articles they prepared as part of their outreach activities (discussed below). In learning to communicate effectively with other scientists, the Fellows learned how to construct an effective scientific research poster, and then received and gave feedback on the written poster format and oral presentation of the poster. The posters were presented by the Fellows on July 25th in the UGA campus-wide Joint Program REEU/REU Poster Symposium. Other training and workshops: The Fellows participated in a Research Ethics workshop titled "Research Ethics & Keeping a Lab Notebook" on May 30th, as well as a Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment training workshop hosted by UGA EOO on June 7th. Fellows were also invited to attend a series of other workshops, hosted by various graduate students in the life science departments across UGA. Field-based learning, service-learning, and extension and outreach activities: On July 16th, the Fellows participated in a one-day, hands-on Plant Breeding field trip at the University of Georgia Horticulture Farm, where the students learned about crop breeding and improvement by being exposed to ongoing research trials in the cucurbit breeding program at UGA. To observe, participate in, and communicate about the farm-to-table concept, the Fellows had a service-learning activity on June 15th at the Marigold Farmer's Market in Winterville, GA. The Fellows assisted local growers in selling their products and learned the importance of marketing and communication in agriculture. On June 24th, the Fellows had an on-farm visit to an organic farm in Danielsville, GA. During this trip, Fellows learned about the process of organic farming and helped Ed with farm maintenance duties. The Fellows worked in groups to write an article on their research and extension summer experiences, focusing on the farm-to-table concept. The first-place article was published in the UGA and Athens-Clarke County Extension newsletter Shades of Green. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The first-place article on the Fellows' extension experience was published in the August 2024 issue of the UGA Extension newsletter Shades of Green. Four Fellows returned to Georgia to present their research posters at the UGA Plant Center Fall Retreat in front of approximately 150 attendees. One Fellow will be presenting their REEU research at the 2025 ERN: Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM in April 2025. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The program will support 10 Fellows in Year 4. Feedback from previous program assessments will be incorporated to improve the overall operation of the program.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This past year, the program supported 13 Undergraduate Research Fellows funded by AFRI-REEU CGGv2 and one affiliated Fellow funded by the Georgia Research Alliance. Ten students were from other institutions and three students were from the host university. The students were paired with 11 faculty and 13 junior mentors (postdoctoral associates and graduate students) to conduct research in areas ranging from eco-evolutionary responses to stress in native prairie plants to the terpenoid synthesis pathway of tomato. Both formative and summative evaluations were conducted throughout the program to identify strengths as well as areas for improvement from the perspectives of both the undergraduate researchers and their mentors. Fellows have continued to engage in research and extension activities after returning to their home institutions. Four fellows presented their research at the UGA Plant Center Fall Retreat in October 2024, and one received the first-place award for undergraduate student poster presentation. Program assessment: Formative program assessment: The field trips continued to be a highlight. The group appreciated opportunities to see science in action and to think and learn about the connections between basic and applied research, as well as the applications of research that intersect with the public. The Fellows appreciated the variety of the group in terms of experience and backgrounds. They valued the effort the program leadership put into identifying, recruiting, and selecting the cohort. They expected to keep in touch after the program concluded. All of the Fellows enjoyed their labs and found the environment beneficial for their technical and professional development. Fellows also noted that the graduate assistant went above and beyond to make their experience as positive as possible. They appreciated that she took extra time to give them a tour of the greenhouses and share her own research. The Fellows reported that the career lunches improved in the second half of the program. They appreciated hearing from people who were closer to their own career stage. They also valued hearing from people with careers outside of academia. They appreciated networking with different faculty, meeting with the Vice President for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School, hearing from the graduate student panel, and having opportunities to present after the program concluded, such as at the Plant Center retreat. They felt that all these activities had substantial value and relevance, and that the people they heard from were "down to earth" and offered "practical advice about what grad school is like." The feedback from junior mentors was positive. Junior mentors noted that their students enjoyed the research, the activities, and the balance between them. The program is designed for students to "get what they give" with a lot of flexibility regarding what they did in their research. The schedule worked well for not being too disruptive to research and for easier planning. The mentoring and professional training workshops were noted as helpful. Faculty mentors also provided feedback about the strengths of the program, which echoed the feedback from the REEU students and research mentors. Faculty mentors noted the strong and positive culture in the cohort, the inclusion of professional development activities, and the program offering students an opportunity to "be a researcher - from coming up with ideas, planning experiments, executing the experiments, troubleshooting, up to presenting their work." Fellows, junior mentors, and faculty mentors all provided suggestions for improving the program. They suggested a Google or Outlook program calendar that can be imported into their calendars to ensure these activities are on everyone's schedules and to help plan research activities. Another suggestion is to ensure panelists and professional development facilitators have backgrounds, experiences, and paths that more closely resemble those of the cohort (such as involvement of "typical" RAs and TAs, not just the "high-achievers" in graduate student panels). Other suggestions included involving faculty mentors in lab matches and facilitating communications between the Fellows and their mentors in advance to better tailor their projects to Fellows' experience and future growth (note: some labs arranged for Zoom meetings prior to the program start; we will continue to remind and encourage all mentors to do so). Fellows suggested adding field trips to the Herbarium, the Botanical Garden, and field sites and greenhouses (which was offered by the graduate assistant this year) for those who didn't have opportunities to see them as part of their research. We will consider providing an onboarding or welcome info sheet with key information about campus and the program to help students get oriented when they arrive. Summative evaluation: For this year's report, results from all cohorts to date are included to allow for testing for significant differences from pre- to post-program (n=57 students for whom both pre- and post-data were available). The Fellows showed statistically significant gains in their scientific self-efficacy and scientific identity, similar to students in other undergraduate research programs. Furthermore, positive shifts in these factors are predictive of continuation in research-related education and careers. Students started the program with relatively high alignment between their personal values and the values of the scientific community, and these did not change from pre- to post-program. Students also started the program with positive perceptions of the outcomes associated with agriscience and research careers, and mixed views of the costs of pursuing these careers. Again, their views did not change. These results are similar to other studies of junior and senior-level students who seek out research experiences. The students also reported significant increases in their awareness of agriscience-related careers (aside from K-12 agriscience teachers) and significantly increased interest in extension agent and science communication and outreach careers. These results further indicate the program is achieving its intended aims. Students and mentors continue to have many positive things to say about the program. The cohort seemed to have less experience than in previous years, which made for a heavier lift for both the students and mentors. This is not surprising given that students endured the COVID-19 shutdown during high school and college and are likely to have less experience with lab instruction and perhaps more uneven conceptual understanding from introductory science courses.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Wang C, Miller N, Vines D, Severns PM, Momany M, Brewer MT. (2024) Azole resistance mechanisms and population structure of the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus on retail plant products. Appl Environ Microbiol 90:e02056-23.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Alan Peper, Carter J. Newton, Sheena Lim, Wendy Zheng, Timothy Brenneman, and Li Yang (2024) Functional Characterization of Core and Unique Calcite-Dissolving Bacteria Communities from Peanut Fields. Phytopathology 114:5, 1011-1019
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Mar�a A Ortega, Rhodesia M Celoy, Francisco Chacon, Yinan Yuan, Liang-Jiao Xue, Saurabh P Pandey, MaKenzie R Drowns, Brian H Kvitko, Chung-Jui Tsai (2024) Altering cold-regulated gene expression decouples the salicylic acidgrowth trade-off in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 36: 42934308.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Amanda Le and Isabella Balderrama (2024) Cultivating Connection with Wild Acres Farm. University of Georgia Extension- Athens-Clarke County Agriculture and Natural Resources E-Newsletter. August 2024.
|
Progress 03/01/23 to 02/29/24
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:We had recruited more Fellows from underrepresented groups in STEM this year; however, two students from historically excluded groups who were accepted into the program had to withdraw with short notice due to family matters. A third (and 1st-generation) student from an SMC also withdrew from the program two weeks after the start due to illness of a family member. Those late cancellations unfortunately left us little to no time to adjust or offer the vacant slots to other qualified applicants. We will communicate earlier and more persistently with our recruiting networks to increase the pool of diverse applicants. Other potential improvements include hosting "ask me anything" meetings to improve communications. For example, the graduate assistant will host pre-program virtual meetings to help Fellows navigate travel logistics and selection of potential host labs. In addition, weekly emails of program activities will come from faculty director Brewer (as in Year 1) instead of the graduate assistant (this past year), as the latter gave the misimpression that the leadership team was not as engaged. We will also make a contingency plan to cover for unexpected absence. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Seminars and Workshops. Mentoring workshop: Two mentoring professional development sessions were offered to all faculty and junior mentors, led by collaborator Erin Dolan. The first session was held on May 22 prior to the start of the program and provided an introduction to mentoring and discussed topics pertinent to aligning expectations and communicating effectively. The second session, held June 14, covered topics related to promoting equity and inclusion, assessing understanding, and developing independence, while also providing an opportunity for follow-up conversations with junior mentors. As a whole, 65% of our faculty and junior mentors are PEERs (Persons who have been Excluded from STEM because of Ethnicity or Race), POC (people of color), and/or women, and 95% have completed mentoring training. Career seminars: To learn about career options in the plant sciences and the different paths available, the Fellows participated in eight, 1-hour career seminars weekly organized by Co-PD MacGregor throughout the program. The seminars alternated between networking luncheons with diverse representation of graduate students and discussion sessions hosting a range of plant science professionals. Presenters included a government scientist working on biofuels and sustainability at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a research scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, a plant breeding scientist in industry, the Associate Dean for Extension for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia, and a faculty member at UGA with research experience in Africa. Science communication: On five Wednesday mornings during the program, the fellows participated in 1.5-hour science communication workshops led by Co-PD and Faculty Coordinator Brewer where they learned what science communication is and the varied forms it takes, and how to effectively communicate with the public and with other scientists. As part of the workshops, the students developed their own 4-entry blogs where they worked on communicating with the public about topics including their research projects, learning new techniques in the lab, and the organic farm and farmers' market visits. The information from their blogs was incorporated into the articles they prepared as part of their outreach activities (discussed below). In learning to communicate effectively with other scientists, the Fellows learned how to construct an effective scientific research poster, and then received and gave feedback on the written poster format and oral presentation of the poster. The posters were presented by the Fellows on July 26th in the UGA campus-wide Summer Research Poster Forum. Other training and workshops: The Fellows also participated in Research Ethics Workshops, including "Non-discrimination and anti-harassment training" on June 6th, and "How to Keep a Lab Notebook" and "Research Ethics" on June 1st. They also attended "Lab Safety Training" on May 25th a "Preparing for Graduate School" presentation on July 11th, and an "NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program application discussion" on June 22nd. Field-based learning, service-learning, and extension and outreach activities: On July 12th, the fellows participated in a one-day, hands-on Plant Breeding field trip led by Co-PD MacGregor and taught by faculty of the UGA Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics at the University of Georgia Hort Farm where the students learned about crop breeding and improvement using plant genetic and genomic research. To observe, participate in, and communicate about the farm-to-table concept, the Fellows had a service-learning activity on June 10th at the Marigold Farmer's Market in Winterville, GA, led by Co-PD Smith with assistance from Clarke County Extension agent Laura Ney, where the Fellows worked with local growers to sell products and communicate with the consumers. On June 26th the Fellows had an on-farm organic farm visit led by Co-PD van der Knaap with a farmer who sells produce at the local farmers' markets. The Fellows worked in groups to write an article on their research and extension summer experiences focusing on the farm-to-table concept. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The first-place article, as selected by Smith and Ney, was published in the July 2023 issue of the UGA and Athens-Clarke County Extension newsletterShades of Green. Several Fellows will present their research posters at the UGA Plant Center Fall Retreat in front of ~250 attendees. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The program will support 10-12 Fellows in Year 3. Feedback from previous program assessment will be incorporated to improve the overall operation of the program.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This past year, the program supported eight Undergraduate Research Fellows funded by AFRI-REEU CGGv2 and two affiliated Fellows funded by other sources. Most fellows are from STEM-underrepresented groups, including eight female students with five coming from historically excluded groups. Three students were from minority serving institutions (one each from an HBCU, an HSI, and an NASNTI), one student was from a community technical college, one student was from an agricultural college, one student was from a small liberal art college, and four students were from the host university (UGA). The students were paired with 10 faculty and 10 junior mentors (postdoctoral associates and graduate students) to conduct research in areas ranging from winter stress transcriptomics in trees, to the endophyte diversity of maize, to the terpenoid synthesis pathway of tomato. Both formative and summative evaluation was conducted throughout the program to identify strengths as well as areas for improvement from the perspectives of both the undergraduate researchers and their mentors. Fellows have continued to engage in research and extension activities after returning to their home institutions. Four fellows plan to present their research at the UGA Plant Center Fall Retreat in December 2023 and competing for undergraduate student poster presentation awards. Program assessment: Formative program assessment: Fellows enjoyed and appreciated the learning environments afforded by their labs. Fellows particularly appreciated the career lunches especially the opportunities to meet with graduate students from different backgrounds and with different perspectives to get advice on a variety of topics. Fellows enjoyed the horticulture farm field trip, especially for those who were otherwise doing entirely lab or computational work. Fellows appreciated 'honest' insights from their faculty mentors about academia and their encouragement to network with other faculty to learn about diverse research areas and explore graduate training at UGA. Another program strength is junior mentors who helped Fellows learn, navigate, and interpret their research, including finding ways to present their progress even when results were not ready or as expected. The Fellows also expressed appreciation for a dynamic document (introduced in the second half of the program in response to mid program assessment) where they and their lab members could find up-to-date information about program activities and deadlines. One student found like the program worked quite well for non-traditional students - they had been nervous about it at the outset and were very pleased by the end at how valuable the experience was. Junior mentors provided feedback about the strengths of the program based on their own experience and their observations of their mentees' experiences. The assortment of program events (e.g., field trips, career exploration activities, other forms of professional development such as in science communication, poster presentations) continued to be a highlight that junior mentors appreciated for their "diversity and insight." One junior mentor noted that the "REEU students have different [career] aspirations" and that the program events were well planned so that "each student likely learned more about a career path or interest in greater detail." This mentor also noted that "the events were balanced in regards to not overloading the students and consequently taking away time from them to conduct meaningful research." Junior mentors also appreciated the amount of information and communication mentors received about the student schedule. It made scheduling experiments with the student easier which was very helpful to make sure [the student got the most out of the program." One junior mentor summed up their perspective nicely: "It seemed like the REEU cohort were very close with each other and had a great time socially as well as intellectually." Faculty mentors also provided feedback about the strengths of the program, which echoed the feedback from the REEU students and research mentors. Faculty mentors continued to be enthusiastic about the overall program design, including the integration of a range of activities and the amount of time available for students to engage in research. They also felt the post-Memorial Day start date worked better than the start date in previous years. Based on feedback from last year, we encouraged faculty mentors to develop a mentor-mentee compact with their Fellows, and this was well perceived. Faculty mentors also recognized that they needed to be better about checking in with their mentee and encouraging them to ask questions. Fellows, junior mentors and faculty mentors all provided suggestions for improving the program. A dynamic document with up-to-date program activities was developed to improve communications based on mid-program assessment as described above. Also in response to mid-program assessment, PD Tsai and Faculty Coordinator Brewer both reached out to Fellows and engaged them in conversation, including a Life Sciences lab tour organized by Tsai and the biweekly science communication workshops led by Marin. How to strike a balance between group activities/field trips and time for independent research will continue to be discussed. Lab placement and junior mentor pairing is another challenge that we face from time to time. We will consider and incorporate the suggestions into future program design, communications and logistics planning. Summative evaluation: As observed in previous years, both junior and faculty mentors reported that fellows gained in their abilities to carry out most types of research tasks. Fellows made the largest gains in research self-efficacy, consistent with findings from multiple studies of summer undergraduate research programs. In terms of career awareness and interest, Fellows reported increased awareness of multiple agriscience careers, including extension agent, academic extension specialist, agriscience instructor, and industry research scientist. The only exception was in the career path of "K-12 agriscience teacher", a pattern that was also observed in previous years. Since this profession was not featured in our career panels, it will be dropped in future survey to reduce participant burden. Collectively, the assessment results indicate that students are experiencing outcomes appropriate for a summer research program. ?Advisory committee feedback: An in-person meeting with the advisory committee was held on December 13, 2023 at the UGA Plant Center Fall Retreat to review year 2 activities and discuss future plan. The committee interacted with program faculty and Fellows, including former members who are now UGA graduate students. The feedback was positive overall for the program direction and plan for the next year.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Schultz, C.R., Brantley, K.M. & Wallace, J.G. (2022) The role of genetic variation in Zea mays response to beneficial endophytes. Plant Growth Regul 98, 167177.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Lee, K., Hill, N., Dela Cerna, C., & Missaoui, A. (2023). Determining the earliest growth stage to detect the presence of endophytes in tall fescue and perennial ryegrass seedlings using molecular markers. Grassland Research, 2(2), 106111.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Kimberly Casares and Camren Cordell (2023) Cultivating future scientists at the Marigold Farmers Market. Shades of Green. University of Georgia Extension- Athens-Clarke County Agriculture and Natural Resources E-Newsletter. July 2023.
|
Progress 03/01/22 to 02/28/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Undergraduate students Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Seminars and Workshops. Mentoring workshop: Two mentoring professional development sessions were offered to all faculty and junior mentors, led by collaborator Erin Dolan. The first session was held on May 25 prior to the start of the program and provided an introduction to mentoring and discussed topics pertinent to aligning expectations and communicating effectively. The second session, held June 23, covered topics related to promoting equity and inclusion, assessing understanding, and developing independence, while also providing an opportunity for follow-up conversations with junior mentors. As a whole, 79% of our faculty and junior mentors are PEERs (Persons who have been Excluded from STEM because of Ethnicity or Race), POC (people of color), and/or women, and 62% have completed entering mentoring training. Career seminars: To learn about career options in the plant sciences and the different paths available, the Fellows participated in eight, 1-hour career seminars weekly organized by Co-PD MacGregor throughout the program. The seminars alternated between networking luncheons with diverse representation of graduate students and discussion sessions hosting a range of plant science professionals. Presenters included a government scientist who is a plant pathologist with the USDA ARS, a research scientist in the agrisciences industry, a horticulture production and plant breeding scientist in industry, the Associate Dean for Extension for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia, and a faculty member at UGA with research experience in Africa. Science communication: On five Wednesday mornings during the program, the fellows participated in 1.5-hour science communication workshops led by Co-PD and Faculty Coordinator Brewer where they learned what science communication is and the varied forms it takes, and how to effectively communicate with the public and with other scientists. As part of the workshops, the students developed their own 4-entry blogs where they worked on communicating with the public about topics including their research projects, learning new techniques in the lab, and the organic farm visit. The information from their blogs was incorporated into the articles they prepared as part of their outreach activities (discussed below). In learning to communicate effectively with other scientists, the Fellows learned how to construct an effective scientific research poster, and then received and gave feedback on the written poster format and oral presentation of the poster. The posters were presented by the Fellows on July 28th in the UGA campus-wide Summer Research Poster Forum. Other training and workshops: The Fellows also participated in Research Ethics Workshops, including "Non-discrimination and anti-harassment training" on June 3, and "How to Keep a Lab Notebook" on June 2nd. They also attended "Lab Safety Training" on May 21st "General Laboratory Safety BSL-2" on June 2nd, an "Applying to Graduate School" advice panel on June 23rd, and an "NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program application discussion" on July 12. Field-based learning, service-learning, and extension and outreach activities: The fellows were scheduled to participate in a one-day, hands-on Plant Breeding field trip taught by faculty of the UGA Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics at the University of Georgia Hort Farm where the students would learn about crop breeding and improvement using plant genetic and genomic research. This activity was cancelled due to COVID-19 and could not be rescheduled. Next year we will schedule this activity for earlier in the summer so that we can reschedule if there is an unexpected cancellation. To observe, participate in, and communicate about the farm-to-table concept, the Fellows had an on-farm organic farm visit with Co-PD van der Knaap on July 11th with a farmer who sells produce at the Athens Farmer's Market. This was intended to be followed by a service-learning activity at the Athens Farmers Market with co-PD Smith and the Athens-Clarke County Extension Agent where the Fellows would work with local growers, including the organic farmer whose farm they visited, to sell products and communicate with the consumers. However, the new manager of the Athens Farmers Market was not interested in working with our program, so this event was cancelled. Next year co-PD Smith and the Athens-Clarke County Extension Agent will work with the manager of the Winterville Farmer's Market to schedule this outreach event. The Fellows worked in groups to write an article on their research and extension summer experiences. The first-place article, as selected by Smith, was published in the September 2022 issue of the UGA and Athens-Clarke County Extension newsletter Shades of Green. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The first-place article of Fellows' extension experience was published in the September 2022 issue of the UGA Extension newsletter Shades of Green. Several Fellows have presented their research posters at their home institutions or at the UGA Plant Center Fall Retreat in front of ~200 attendees. Two fellows won undergraduate poster presentation awards at the Plant Center Retreat in Dec 2022. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The program will support another 10 Fellows in Year 2. Feedback from previous program assessment will be incorporated to improve the overall operation of the program.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This past year, the program supported 10 Undergraduate Research Fellows funded by AFRI-REEU CGGv2 and three affiliated Fellows funded by other sources. All fellows are from STEM-underrepresented groups, including one non-binary and seven female students. Seven students were from HBCU or HIS institutions, one student was from a non-traditional student-serving, public senior military college, and three students were from the host university (UGA). The students were paired with 13 faculty and 13 junior mentors (postdoctoral associates and graduate students) to conduct research in areas ranging from genetic diversity of peanut leaf pathogens, to the genetic basis of sex determination in cucurbits, to genotyping of male sterility in maize, to identification of genes underlying monoterpenoid volatiles in tomato. Both formative and summative evaluation was conducted throughout the program to identify strengths as well as areas for improvement from the perspectives of both the undergraduate researchers and their mentors. Fellows have continued to engage in research and extension activities after returning to their home institutions. Nine fellows presented their research at the UGA Plant Center Fall Retreat in December 2022 where two fellows won undergraduate student poster presentation awards. Program assessment: Formative program assessment:Fellows particularly appreciated the career lunches and organic farm field trip. They appreciated opportunities to learn about a diversity of agriscience careers and to see science in action outside of academia. Having junior mentors as go-to people to ask for help, guidance, and advice was viewed as incredibly helpful. The fellows appreciated opportunities for networking in a variety of formats, including graduate student panels, career lunches, and poster sessions. They felt they had ample opportunity to meet new people throughout the program. Fellows also appreciated the research experience and the hosting labs. They were impressed by the diversity of science, and they enjoyed the opportunities to do wetlab and computational work. The fellows reported that they "learned a lot", developing research skills and gaining lab experience. They felt they had enough time to get something out of the program. They particularly appreciated opportunities to complete their own projects while also contributing or being exposed to other projects in the host lab. Several students wrapped up their feedback by noting they "had a great time!" and were "sad to leave." Junior mentors provided feedback about the strengths of the program based on their own experience and their observations of their mentees' experiences. Highlights included all of the program activities outside of the lab (e.g., field trips, career exploration activities, science communication, poster presentations), interactions the undergraduates had with graduate students, the level of motivation and excitement among the students, and the professional development mentoring. Faculty mentors also provided feedback about the strengths of the program, which echoed the feedback from the REEU students and research mentors. Faculty mentors were enthusiastic about the overall program design, including the multiple workshops, seminars, career lunches and other activities besides research. They felt the activities were useful and well balanced. Multiple faculty members perceived this to be the best cohort to date - noting that "they interacted among themselves well and self-organizedactivities." Several stated that their mentee was "great!" or "a joy to work with and showed strongimprovement throughout the summer." Faculty felt that the students were "well chosen based on skills and qualifications and this helped make training easy and efficient." Fellows, junior mentors and faculty mentors all provided suggestions for improving the program. A logistic challenge has been the off-campus locations of several labs, which was made worse due to an unexpected city road closure that significantly affected the campus bus service. How to strike a balance between structured learning and group activities (on the central campus) and time for independent research (across campus) will continue to be discussed. Building additional structure and consistency, perhaps in the form of a mentoring compact, was also suggested. We will consider and incorporate the suggestions into future program design, communications and logistics planning. Summative evaluation:Both junior and faculty mentors reported that fellows gained in their abilities to carry out most types of research tasks. The only area without apparent growth is in "proposingnew directions for the research." Surprisingly, mentors rated students' skills as relatively high at thebeginning of the summer. This may suggest higher level of fellow engagement at the start of the program, and there may not be as much opportunity for growth in this area (rating remained high at the end of the program). As observed in previous cohorts and in multiple studies of summer undergraduate research programs, fellows made the largest gains in research self-efficacy. Fellows reported high values alignment coming into the program and experienced no growth during the program. Again, this has been observed for other summer research programs. Fellows reported favorable perceptions of thebenefits of both career paths at the outset of the program and may have made small gains in these perceptions. In general, the program appears to increase undergraduates' awareness of multiple agriscience careers other than being K-12 agriscience teachers or science communication and outreach specialists. Fellows also appeared to gain in their interest in a few careers (extension agent, industry research scientist, and science communication and outreach specialist), although interest in these careers is quite varied among the students. Collectively, these results indicate that students are experiencing outcomes appropriate for a summer research program. Advisory committee feedback:A Zoom meeting with the advisory committee was held on February 7, 2023 to review year 1 activities and discuss future plan. The committee's independent report is shown below. The advisory committee is extremely impressed with the CGGv2 REEU program this year. The 13 fellows engaged in scientific research, training in research skills, and training in complementary skills such as science communication. As outlined elsewhere in this report, students reported high satisfaction, and faculty saw strong growth in their mentees, particularly when the expectations were clearly defined. The advisory committee has no suggestions for improvement in the training program. It is particularly impressive that the team has made such great strides in providing mentor training to faculty and junior mentors in the program - 61% of the team has completed "entering mentoring" training. The rebound from the covid pandemic is equally commendable. We encourage them to continue efforts to ensure that all mentors are fully trained. Finally, we want to note that the team has done an excellent job responding to logistical challenges, for example, by pursuing a new partnership with the Winterville Farmer's Market when the Athens Farmer's Market leadership changed.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Reham Azab, Abby Jensen and AudreeAuna Morris-Garrett (2022) Room to Grow, an Organic Farm Experience. Shades of Green. University of Georgia Extension- Athens-Clarke County Agriculture and Natural Resources E-Newsletter. September 2022.
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