The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) invites undergraduates to apply for our NSF-sponsored, 2012 REU program in Interdisciplinary Research Experiences in Changing Coastal Environments. We are recruiting highly motivated undergraduates from around the country interested in gaining hands-on research experience. Successful applicants will receive a $5000 stipend, room and board at the Marine Center, funds to support transportation to and from LUMCON, and research and small boat use funds.
Each student will spend ten weeks (May 28th August 3rd) at LUMCON conducting independent research projects with guidance from scientific mentors/mentor teams while interacting with peers participating in other aspects of LUMCONs summer field program. Each student is paired with a scientific mentor based on mutual research interests. Areas of research for this summer include biogeochemistry, benthic ecology, coastal geology, coastal hypoxia, wetland science, ecosystem ecology, fisheries and aquaculture, phytoplankton ecology, and Gulf Oil Spill impacts. The program is open to current undergraduates (typically rising juniors and seniors) who are US citizens or permanent residents. Students from underrepresented groups in science, from small colleges, and first generation college students are encouraged to apply. Applications are due February 15, 2011. More information about the program and application materials can be found at http://www.lumcon.edu/REU. Prospective applicants may also send questions to [email protected]. LUMCON, located in Cocodrie, LA, was formed in 1979 to coordinate and stimulate Louisiana's activities in marine research and education and is situated within a dynamic coastal habitat that inspires a myriad of research questions along a freshwater to saltwater continuum. LUMCON faculty and their research teams focus on a variety of related research themes across these diverse habitats, including river/ocean interactions, coastal productivity, delta formation and degradation, human and environmental impacts (including the immediate and long-term impacts of the recent Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill), and organismal ecology. LUMCONs setting combined with expertise of the faculty and mentor pool provide a unique opportunity for REU students to participate in a scientific research and professional mentoring program that interfaces fundamental research questions in dynamic coastal ecosystems to science-based policy and management activities.
