Overview of activities for the Cary Institute’s proposed Translational Ecology for Undergraduates REU program, 2011-2015.

Week

Cutting Edge Independent Research

Linking to Policy and Management

Linking to the Public

Linking to Education

Reflective Practice and Training

Pre-program

Background reading
Preliminary definition of questions and hypotheses

ALL WEEKS

Ethics Training. Reflective Journaling.

1

Library/field work

Project planning

Statistics and Study Design Workshop (Keesing).

Communications Workshop (Quillen, Schlesinger)

Field Exercise – Questions & Hypotheses (Berkowitz)

Safety training

2

Case study session I: Introduction (Project Leader and partner)

Theory and Ecology (Pickett)

3

Presentations of students’ research plans

Case study session II: Panel discussion (invited guests)

Assignment I: Lay friendly paragraph about your research

Training (Education Staff)

4

Research proposals due

Peer feedback

Sharing Science (REU students teach others)

5

Data collection

Scientific Presentations Workshop (Strayer)

Scientific Writing
Workshop (Findlay)

Forum on Translational Ecology

6

Case study session III: Follow-up discussion and poster design (Project Leader and partner)

7

Science Education Roundtable - (Berkowitz, other educators)

8

Hubbard Brook Field Trip
Ethics in Science (Likens)

9

10

Data analysis and synthesis
Abstract due

Statistics and data analysis
(Keesing).

11

Assignment II: Lay friendly 1 pager about a colleague’s research.

Peer feedback.

Future Pathways Discussion - Graduate School & Careers (students, staff)

12

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Drafts of figures and tables due

Poster on science/society (policy and/or management) linkages in case study issue.

Program book for symposium features edited Assignment IIs

Post-program

Final paper due (June the following year)