Tropical Ecology and Evolution at El Verde Field Station

An award has been made to the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus, that will provide research training for 10 weeks for 8 undergraduate students, during the summers of 2011-2015. The program focuses on Tropical Ecology and Evolution -- the study of plant population biology, forest and stream community dynamics, forest ecology, and arthropod biology and coevolution in the tropical rainforest of Puerto Rico. El Verde Field Station is the base of operations of many tropical researchers and the Luquillo LTER program. Students can develop their own independent projects in a wide variety of fields under the advice of faculty mentors. Students spend most of their time working in their research projects, but are also expected to attend seminars and workshops on scientific data analysis and techniques to study tropical systems; along with workshops on the graduate school application process. An ethics component focuses on responsible conduct in research and issues commonly encountered by students during their careers, as well as discussions on the role of scientists in modern society. The program has a component that includes field trips to other forest types and historic areas in Puerto Rico. REU students have access to a very diverse tropical rainforest to conduct their research and basic facilities at the field station are complemented with modern laboratories on campus at UPR Rio Piedras. The program is advertised electronically in Puerto Rico and mainland US. Students are selected based on academic record and potential for outstanding research in the biological sciences. Students are tracked to determine their continued interest in their academic field of study, their career paths, and the lasting influences of the research experience. Information about the program will be assessed by various means, including use of an REU common assessment tool. More information is available by visiting http://web.ites.upr.edu/reu/ or by contacting the PI (Dr. Ramirez at reu@ites.upr.edu).