Program Schedule

Research Project

The majority of a student's time will be spent conducting his/her research project. The students will work with faculty for a 10-week period that will be scheduled between May 2008 and August 2008. Clusters of faculty mentors and students will meet weekly for the summer.

We have two dates (May 27 or June 2) from which students can choose to start their summer at Miami University. We expect students to be moved in and ready to start their internship on these dates, so travel should be planned for the weekend before. We will make flight arrangements for students that live far away.

Seminar

In addition to completing an independent project with a faculty advisor students will also meet regularly (1-2 hours per week) for a seminar course to build professional skills. Topics for the seminar are listed below.

• Introduction: Ecology and the Philosophy of the REU Program
• The Scientific Method
• Scientific Ethics
• Environmental Ethics
• Careers in Ecology and Environmental Science
• Graduate School Opportunities
• The Curriculum Vitae
• Library Research
• Research Proposals
• Scientific Meetings
• Oral Presentations and Poster Presentations
• Data Analysis and Presentation
• Graphs and Graphing
• Making Digital Presentations
• PowerPoint and Electronic Posterboards
• Peer Review and the Publication Process
• Reflection on Ethical Issues
• Mini-symposium: Student Presentations - including individual student presentations; cluster synthesis; and discussion sessions

Electronic Poster Session

The final requirement for students is participation in an electronic poster session during the fall of 2008 through Miami University's Blackboard system. Students will present their research in digital poster/presentation format. Credits (pass/fail) will be awarded in the fall of 2008 after completion of the poster session.