Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Training the next generation of leaders in stakeholder-serving agricultural science research and extension is the principal educational goal of the land-grant institution. Achieving this goal requires providing students with high-quality experiential learning opportunities to develop critical thinking and stakeholder outreach skills in research and extension particularly in plant pathology and environmental sciences. Our goal for this Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) proposal is to train 100 upper-level undergraduates from TAMU and partnering universities during a 5-year period in the practice of hypothesis-driven scientific research and extension projects at the interface of plant, microbial, and bioenvironmentalsciences.Based on historical BURS participation and purposeful support we have forged with partner institutions; our expectation is to have greater than 66% of REEU students from underrepresented groups. We will create a yearly intensive 10-week summer research/extension experience through which students will join an inclusive high-impact learning environment. Our intellectual focus includes: (a) reinforcing interest in scientific research and extension; (b) developing capacity in scientific thinking and desire to pursue graduate studies in agricultural science; and (c) developing interest in professional careers in academia, government, and industry directly relevant to agricultural and environmental sciences. We will establish a long-term engagement process to follow students upon return to their respective campuses and during their post-baccalaureate professional advancement. The long-term goal of this REEU project is to increase highly qualified and diverse future workforce in agricultural research and extension disciplines.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
60%
Applied
40%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project entitled "REEU at the Interface of Plant, Microbial and Bioenvironmental Sciences" is to train upto twenty rising junior- or senior-level undergraduates per year, a total of upto one hundred undergraduate students from Texas A&M University (TAMU) and partner universities, including Prairie View A&M, Univ of Texas (UT)-Rio Grande Valley, UT- San Antonio, and TAMU- Kingsville. Our aim is to have greater than 60 percent of REEU participants from underrepresented groups each year to conduct intensive 10-week summer research/extension experience where students will join an inclusive high-impact learning environment at TAMU main campus. We will establish a long-term networking process to follow the students upon return to their respective campuses and during their post-baccalaureate professional advancement.
Project Methods
Microbes affect global climate patterns, nutrient cycling, biomass degradation, crop production, and plant and animal health. Using the platform of the plant-microbe-environment interface, we will provide opportunities for students to experientially learn fundamentals of plant, microbiological, and environmental research, and to translate these into high-impact applications through extension, all through independent research within active laboratories. This REEU projects will be structured so that students can transition from directed to independent research and extension activities. The intellectual focus for this REEU is on the interface between plants (key crops), microbes (fungi, bacteria, and viruses), and the environment (soil, water, and pollutants). Our REEU will be composed of two major phases: (a) a 10-week summer experience at TAMU laboratories and (b) the long-term tracking of students upon return to their home universities and during pursuit of their graduate or professional careers. TAMU will be the lead organization, where the 10-week summer experience will be conducted. Project management will be performed by the PD and Co- PIs who will oversee all aspects of the REEU, including the development, implementation, and evaluation of project activities; fiscal management; the selection and mentoring of the students at TAMU; and tracking students.We have defined three pedagogically sequenced and measurable objectives. During the 10-week REEU, participating students will learn and demonstrate their knowledge of; 1) Scientific method: by formulating hypotheses for assigned projects and designing experiments with controls to test the hypotheses and interpret results; 2) Scientific communication: by reporting status of experiments in laboratory group meetings and preparing oral and/or poster presentations of findings; and 3) Career and professional development: by attending seminars, understanding the management of hypothesis-driven research, and interacting scientifically and socially with faculty mentors, graduate students, REEU student peers, our Professional Board, and extension personnel.We will achieve these learning objectives through our 10-week summer program followed by interactions with students and faculty at home institutions and through LinkedIn tracking of students. We will also promote REEU students to share their experience, research finding, and enthusiasm through social media and foster their development as "ambassadors of science" who generate enthusiasm for agricultural science in general, and our REEU programs in particular.