USDA-Funded RESEARCH & EXTENSION EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATES (REEU)
Applications due Feb 15, 2020
Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents, enrolled in a degree program leading to BS or BA degree, and be entering their sophomore, junior or senior year in Fall 2020. The program will run from June 1 – July 31, 2020 in Blacksburg, VA on the Virginia Tech campus. Chosen undergraduate fellows will receive a stipend of $500 per week for the 9-week program and we will provide housing and meals. We also have some funds to help with travel to and from the site, which will be determined once we have reviewed the applications and accepted students into the program.
We aim to provide intellectually challenging, interdisciplinary research and extension experiences for diverse undergraduates from across the US. During the summer program, our undergraduate fellows will:
1. Develop a detailed and nuanced understanding of the complexity of anthropogenic influences and stakeholder needs within mixed-use watersheds;
2. Gain appreciation for the disciplinary diversity required to address critical, complex water resources issues;
3. Improve their ability to communicate scientific findings to audiences of varying backgrounds in formal and informal situations;
4. Acquire a foundation in technical, social, and collaborative skills to help them succeed in future research and professional activities; and
5. Form a professional network that can support future careers in water management (e.g., graduate degrees, agricultural/industry careers, public service, etc.).
This REEU will catalyze interactions between students from widely varying disciplines by focusing on research questions that require innovative approaches to scientific collaboration and data visualization, as well as communication and engagement with an array of local stakeholders. Our diverse team of experienced mentors includes environmental scientists, social scientists, engineers, and computer scientist will both guide individual student efforts as well as collectively model successful interdisciplinary collaboration.
To promote a unifying context for research: a) fellows and mentors will be members of interdisciplinary teams; b) we will learn from and interact with a range of stakeholders across multiple land use issues; and c) activities will be place-based within the New River basin.
