Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This 9-week summer REEU experience at Cal State LA will support and attract 9 motivated, diverse students each year for five years to investigate urban natural resources and urban agricultural problems through a nested series of events. Component activities include research activities, training activities, mentoring activities, social activities, a research and training field activity, and post-REEU activities. Research activities include investigations in 7 topical areas; (1) natural and amended soil microsystem development in urban agriculture, (2) competitive water availability for urban agriculture and urban greenspace, (3) fire ecohydrology in LA Basin, (4) heat island effect related to urban green-space and urban agriculture, (5) hydrochemical imprint of mircoplastics on urban water, (6) biodiversity and people in urban gardens and farms, and (7) environmental justice and tree canopy cover in the inner city. All of the projects were selected as they allow tangible STEM accomplishments, including refereed publications. The pool (local and national) of underrepresented students and the institution's longstanding commitment and success in their recruitment behooves us to focus on talented students that would gain substantially by this REEU, and consider advanced degrees related to urban natural resources management and sustainable urban agriculture. The research will contribute to understanding of climate and anthropogenic-forced change in urban environments and systems that require additional study and long-term monitoring. This project also will focus substantially on recruiting and retaining diverse students. As a result, this effort aims to expand diversity representation in urban natural resources decision making, urban agriculture, and urban food production.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
30%
Applied
60%
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
This 9-week summer USDA REEU program at Cal State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) will enable new training research and opportunities for students from across the nation to compete for technical and policy-oriented positions in urban natural resource management and urban agriculture in academia, government, and consulting industry. The project aims to provide an optimal experience for those continuing to graduate school. The objectives of this REEU program are to: 1) Provide students an enriching and cultural experience under the guidance and mentorship of a core group of faculty with research interests in the fields of urban agriculture and related natural resources issues of urban agricultural growth and sustainability, including; urban green space renewal and ecology, urban water sustainability, heat island effect, environmental chemistry, environmental citizen science applications, and environmental justice issues related to urban green space and agriculture. 2) Increase the number of students pursuing advanced degrees in fields related to urban agriculture, such as urban natural resources management, the policy of urban food production and water use, and modeling and technology applications in urban natural resource management. Strong emphasis will be placed on recruiting diverse students at an early stage in their academic careers. 3) Increase the number of underrepresented students and especially those that do not have access to research opportunities and/or professional development, providing exposure/training in research and opportunities for these students to pursue graduate degrees or employment. 4) Strengthen faculty collaborations in urban natural resources and urban agriculture to ensure that multidisciplinary research opportunities for undergrads continue beyond the life of the REEU.As part of our REEU program we will recruit 9 students per year for 5 years with undergraduate majors in agriculture, geology, biology, environmental science, geography, and chemistry. At least 50% of the students will come from campuses with limited research capacity, such as community colleges. We currently maintain excellent student and faculty exchange programs with many local and out-of-state community colleges. No less than 60% will be from underrepresented groups, reflecting our institution's demographics. We will strive to recruit 50% of students from outside the LA Basin, and/or outside of California, focusing recruitment on rising sophomores, juniors, and early seniors.Our REEU program will prepare students for careers in agriculture and related fields or graduate studythrough a nested series of undergraduate research opportunities, supporting mentoring workshops, and social events during the 9-week summer REEU experience at our campus.Lab research activities include investigations in 7 complementary topical areas that embody the critical connections between disciplinary topics that are highly relevant to developing urban agriculture in diverse, semi-arid regions such as Southern California. Mentoring activities include Friday afternoon meetings between all REEU students, REEU faculty, and graduate students. Faculty and graduate students will lead informal discussions related to career and professional development and challenges (e.g., why a professional discipline was selected for a career; how graduate school was selected). Social actitivities include three-weekend social events that aim to create bonds between REEU students and faculty peers. In addition, we will host Friday afternoon volleyball and basketball events, social events critical to the bonding that is integral to this project.We anticipate our program will create a high degree of academic and professional enrichment for 45 undergraduate students who will be steered toward careers in agriculture, natural resources evaluation and management, biodiversity, and climate change analysis and mitigation. A greater emphasis will be placed on urban agriculture and urban natural resources evaluation and management.
Project Methods
Diverse undergraduate students will be recruited nationally for summer research experiences at our REEU site. We will recruit 9 students per year for 5 years with undergraduate majors in agriculture, geosciences, biology, environmental science, geography, chemistry, and related fields of human sciences. At least 50% of the students will come from campuses with limited research capacity, such as local and distant community colleges. We already maintain excellent student and faculty exchange programs with many of the local community colleges in Los Angeles. With respect to our targeted goals, at least 60%, from underrepresented groups. We will recruit part of our student base locally from surrounding campuses and community colleges. We will strive to recruit 50% of students from outside the LA Basin, and/or outside of California, focusing recruitment on rising sophomores, juniors, and early seniors in about equal percentages. During the interview process, students and mentors will determine placement in a principal lab before they arrive at Cal State LA where they will carry out research during a 9-week period.Student applicants will be evaluated on academic performance, research interests, and personal motivation through an online application, personal essay, unofficial academic transcript, letters of recommendation, and faculty mentor interview. Students will be evaluated first based on their online application, essay, and LOR. ZOOM interviews will then be conducted with students scoring in the top 25 of all applicants. Student demographics and home institutions will be used to ensure maximum diversity amongst the participants.A chronicle of REEU site activities will be developed (e.g., Facebook) to help recruit future students, highlight REEU Site accomplishments, and track the post-program activities of participants. All summer undergraduate researchers will receive $5500 for the 9-week experience requiring a minimum of 35 hours of work per week. Funds will cover student travel to campus from outside of the Los Angeles Basin. All students will receive a research budget, under the direction of faculty mentors, to augment research funding already available in mentor labs.Once students are recruited and arrive at our campus, we will engage these students in seven topical research areas included in the REEU program covering a full spectrum of technical disciplines in FAHN analysis with emphasis on urban areas. Research thrust areas include seven subprojects for student research covering a spectrum of technical disciplines in urban natural resources analysis and urban agriculture. Some projects include significant technological and modeling components, such as GIS and remote sensing, and hydrological modeling. The multiple research projects coordinated across areas of mutual interest and natural connection include: 1. Natural and Amended Soil Microsystem Development in Urban Agriculture for Better Nutrition and Enhanced Water Quality Improvement and Infiltration; 2. Competitive Water Availability for Urban Agriculture and Urban Greenspace; 3. Fire Ecohydrology in LA Basin; 4. Heat Island Effect Related to Urban Greenspace and Urban Agriculture; 5. Chemical Imprint of Microplastics on Urban Water; 6. Biodiversity and People in Urban Gardens and Farms; and 7. Environmental Justice and Tree Canopy Cover in the Inner City - Remedy of Historical Redlining of Urban Communities. Students will be trained in data statistics, field and laboratory methodology, and modeling with a focus on applications directly connected to the development and knowledge of urban agriculture and urban greenspace. Research is the main thrust of the REEU but we also have several other professional growth activities built into the program, including additional workshop training activities, special mentoring activities, and social activities.We also have a special research and training activities at the midpoint of the grant program each summer, when all students will participate in a four-day field trip. The trip will leave starting Monday morning and will end Thursday night. A focus of part of this trip will be to demonstrate ecohydrology field methods for all students in the REEU Cohort. This trip will serve to continue to develop the bonding and collegiality between students and faculty and it will provide the regional context and oversight on the urban natural resource issues and dwindling water supply that are pertinent in agriculture in the southwest, and to student learning. Students will visit successful urban farms, urban forested areas, US national forests, wetlands, and water infrastructure firsthand and learning about operations of water delivery systems has been part of a long tradition in agricultural and environmental science education. Students will also research assigned topics and perform 15-minute roadside talks on pertinent components of agricultural and environmental systems that are visited.Finally, to assess and improve the program each year, we will perform the REEU evaluation. In collaboration with the project senior personnel, our contract external evaluator will develop measures that are tied to the REEU project's goals and content. These will include a set of questionnaires, scales and concept inventories that measure student content and research knowledge, faculty satisfaction, and faculty-student engagement with the REEU program. Student retention, graduation, graduate school, and career data will be collected and analyzed annually.The main project evaluation questions are to what degree this effort affects the recruitment of high-caliber undergraduate students into agriculture and related STEM careers and how the summer research affects students' academic and career pathways. Summer Research Experience Growth, Undergraduate Attitudes, Publications, and Career Decisions and Pathways will be assessed to facilitate evaluation and reporting. The role and effectiveness of the various summer research experiences will be assessed annually to make sure that this component of the program is accomplishing its various motivational, mentoring and cohort-melding goals.We will follow up with students to determine their actual career pathways. We expect at least 70% of participating undergraduate students to enroll in MS or Ph.D. programs upon finishing their degrees. For those students not pursuing higher degrees, we expect 75% to find employment in agriculture and STEM-related public/private sector jobs. The PI will have responsibility for maintaining contact with participating students for three years after each summer REEU program.