Research Mentors: Jasmeet Judge (PI)1*, Kati Migliaccio (Co-PI)2, Bin Gao3, Sanjay Shukla4, Reza Ehsani5, and Eric McLamore3 Coordinator: Daniel Preston1

Graduate Student Mentors: Eban Bean3 and Anna Cathey3

1Center for Remote Sensing, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl; *Email: jasmeet@ufl.edu

2Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Tropical Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Homestead, Fl 3Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl

4Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Immokalee, Fl 5Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Lake Alfred, Fl

Providing positive and meaningful research experiences to students in their undergraduate years is critical for motivating them to pursue advanced degrees or research careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The goal of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department (ABE) at the University of Florida (UF) is to provide students with a unique opportunity to conduct research in water resources using interdisciplinary approaches, integrating research and extension. The eight-week REU Program utilizes the extensive infrastructure of UF – Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) through the Research and Education Centers (RECs). The students are located across Florida during the Program and cyberinfrastructure is heavily utilized to ensure a positive cohort experience. Fifteen students from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds have been mentored in the last two years of the Program. The research projects have resulted in 10 presentations at professional meetings, with one Best Presentation award. Out of the 8 students who have graduated with Bachelors in the last two years, 4 are pursuing graduate studies in a field closely related to hydrology, 3 are employed in research positions and one student is volunteering with the Peace Corps as a Science Teacher in Lesotho, Africa. Feedback and assessment forms indicate that, for most students, our Program was their first exposure to extension in water resources. Many of the students were unaware of the “extension concept” and how integration of research and extension is essential to sustaining and enhancing the quality of human life.

ABSTRACT

NSF-REU SITE FOR INTEGRATED RESEARCH AND EXTENSION IN WATER RESOURCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

RESULTS Table 2 shows a detailed statistics of the applicants and the participants during the past two years of the REU Program. Some of the highlights of the Program are: • A total of 160 applicants representing 131 institutions were received. • Fifteen students have been mentored. Each student conducted an

independent project. • Six participants from the first year of the Program have presented at

professional conferences in 2010 and 2011. Seven participants from the second year are expected to present at conferences in 2012.

• Out of eight students who have graduated during the two years, four are pursuing their graduate degrees in a closely related field, three are employed in research positions, and one student is volunteering with the Peace Corps as a science teacher in Lesotho.

• During the second year of the Program we received applications from the Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students (RESESS) Program. Even though none of the those students were selected, we plan to exchange applications between the two Programs next year..

• We found that, for most students, the REU Program at UF provided the first exposure to the “extension” concept and introduced them to integration of research and extension.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The REU Program was supported by the award NSF-EAR-0851893. Partial Support for the ice breaker reception and the field trips during the orientation week, the lodging and transportation during the Florida Waters Tour was provided by the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department and the Center for Remote Sensing. We particularly thank Dr. Michael Hubenthal, IRIS Corp, for exchanging ideas to ensure an enriching cohort experience for students who are not co-located, based upon his experiences with their REU Program. We also thank many people who presented guest lectures, hosted field visits, and advised on research projects.

REU PROGRAM The REU Program utilizes an extensive UF/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) infrastructure, including off campus Research and Education Centers (RECs) (See Figure 1). The REU projects have been conducted in Gainesville, Homestead, Lake Alfred, and Immokalee, FL (See Figure 1). Typically, four of the eight students are located at the main campus, in Gainesville and four remaining students are located at the RECs, where some of the ABE faculty are located (See Figure 1). Two students are paired with one research mentor and work on complementary projects. The students share their research and other REU experiences through social networking, daily blogs, and weekly video conferences to achieve an enriching cohort experience. They are co-located during the orientation week (See Table 1), the 5-day Florida Waters Tour, and during the three days at the end of the Program. Table 1 shows a typical schedule of the REU Program in the first week of the program. During the orientation, the students are exposed to various hydrology-related research at UF and in the ABE Department, to the hydrogeology of North Central Florida, and to the cyberinfrastructure that will be used during the Program. Evening activities are conducted to enhance interactions among the students during the early stages of the Program. During the 2nd week of the Program, the students write their 1-page project summaries. Weekly group meetings are conducted synchronously through video conferencing. The group meetings are attended by all the students, their research mentors, the coordinator, and the graduate student mentor. The format includes an update of research and other activities to ensure adequate progress, a guest lecture, and a “closed” session involving only the students and the graduate student

mentor. The mid-project meeting is conducted after four weeks into the Program and includes a 15-minute oral presentation by each student. The presentations are anonymously evaluated by all attendees. The awards for the “Best Presentation” and the “Most Frequent Blogger” are presented at the meeting. The five day Florida Waters Tour includes visiting sites and institutions of hydrological interest across Florida and the RECs that are hosting the students (See Figure 1). The integration of research and extension is achieved through the projects at the RECs, the guest lectures, extension workshops, and visits to the Water Management Districts in Florida. Toward the end of the Program, the students schedule times to meet with several UF faculty of their interest. During the last week of the Program, two days are allocated for such student-faculty appointments in Gainesville. The students present their research results during a Symposium on the final day of the Program. The Symposium is attended by the students and faculty of the ABE Department, and the UF/IFAS administration. Awards, similar to the mid-project meeting, are presented during the Symposium. Students’ selection is based upon their field of major, GPA, classification, letters of recommendation, and a statement of student’s goals. During the project, formative evaluations are conducted via feedback forms. At the end of Program summative evaluations are conducted through a questionnaire. Upon completion of the REU Project, the students are informally tracked for their professional progress.

# Applied (2010)

# Selected (2010)

# Applied (2011)

# Selected (2011)

Total 96 8 64 7 Females 62 5 40 6 Males 34 3 24 1 Asian 7 0 5 0 Hispanic or Latino 6 2 8 0 African American 5 0 4 0 Multiracial 2 0 5 0 Disability N/A 1 0 0 Undergrad institutions (BS ) 33

2 18

0

MS.PhD Institutions

63 6

45 7

Freshman (<1 yr) 1 0 1 0 Sophomore ( 1 -2yrs) 23

0 12

3

Junior (2-3 yrs) 59 5 29 4 Senior ( > 3yrs) 13 3 22 0 Previous research experience 69 6 33 5

Previous REU experience

11 1

3 0

Table  2:    Demographics  of  students  who  applied  to  the  program    

Table  1:  Orientation  activities  during  the  first  week  of  the  REU  Program.

Tour  of  UF  campus  and  ABE  laboratories  Research  presentations  by  water  resources  faculty  Tour  of  UF  Marston  Science  Library  Day-­‐long  Hydro-­‐geological  tour  of  North  Central  Florida  

Devil’s  Millhopper  Geological  State  Park  Santa  Fe  College  Bat  Cave  Field  Station  O’Leno  State  Park  Ichetucknee  Springs  State  Park  

Biofuels  Symposium  (Bunnell,  FL)  –  Extension  activity  Tour  of  Plant  Science  Research  and  Education  Unit  (Citra,  FL)  

INTRODUCTION Providing research experiences to undergraduate students motivates

them to pursue advanced degrees, offer training in problem solving and critical thinking via hands-on projects, and also offer excellent mentoring and recruiting opportunities for the faculty advisors. The objective of the REU site in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department (ABE) at the University of Florida (UF) is to provide eight undergraduate students in the STEM disciplines with eight weeks of research experiences. These experiences are focused on sustaining water resources using interdisciplinary approaches that integrate research and extension. The site at the University of Florida is the first distributed site in Hydrological Sciences where the participants are not co-located. This introduces additional challenges to provide positive cohort experiences.

Fig 1: Route for the “Florida Waters Tours” during the REU Program. CREC: Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, FL JPCRSP: John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo, FL SFWMD: South Florida Water Management District Headquarters, West Palm Beach, FL SWFREC: South West Florida Research and Education Center, Immokalee, FL TREC: Tropical Research and Education Center, Homestead, FL

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

2011 Participants during the Florida Water Tour: (a) Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Naples, FL

(b) John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo, FL (c) Rapid Infiltration Basins (RIBS) at Water Conserv II, Winter Garden, FL

(d) Costa Nursery, Homestead, FL

(a)

(b)

Participants Engaged in Field Activities

2010 Participants at Everglades National Park

2010 Participants attending extension workshop on Best Management Practices

2010 Final Symposium

2010 REU Participants and Mentors 2011 REU Participants and Mentors

Oral Presentation during the 2010 Final Symposium

Poster Presentation during the 2011 Final Symposium

2010 2011

End of REU Pool Party

2011 Participants at Water Conserv II