about the nsf reu program
According to the NSF REU website: “The National Science Foundation has developed an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) grant competition that provides funding to universities that create opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds to participate in "hands-on" scientific research. REU program seeks to expand student participation in all kinds of research - whether disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or educational in focus - encompassing efforts by individual investigators, groups, centers, national facilities, and others. The program seeks to attract a diversified pool of talented students into careers in science and engineering and to help ensure that they receive the best education possible.”
How do I Apply?
REU Program at uab
UAB’s REU program involves anthropological research in archaeology and cultural anthropology in Fiji led by UAB anthropologist Dr. Sharyn Jones. Dr. Jones has received two-year grant funding to take 18 students, all expenses paid, to conduct collaborative and individual research in a field school setting in Fiji. Students will have the opportunity to learn how to excavate archaeological sites, make a meaningful contribution to understanding the past lifeways of Fijian peoples, and experience a culture very different from their own. The nine week field school entails one week of pre-Fiji classes, a six week stay in Fiji and a two week follow-up session to complete projects and share findings with the public. Nine students participated in an archaeology focused program in the summer of 2009; next summer, a different group of nine students will participate in a cultural anthropology and ethnohistory program.
Students’ activities and projects include: archaeological surveys, mapping, and excavations; collecting and analyzing ethnographic data on resource exploitation, kinship, and foodways; conducting lab analysis of archaeological materials; entering information into databases; and interpreting data in written, digital, and oral presentations for the academic and general public (website, podcasts, exhibits, etc.).
Click below to download the 2010 fieldschool announcement and application. For more information, link to Dr. Jones’ blog or the NSF REU website from the contact page.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?
Students interested in applying must be enrolled in an undergraduate program in a university in the United States. Previous archaeological or anthropological experience is not required.
PROJECT MISSION STATEMENT
This NSF-REU site is designed to accomplish four objectives:
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(1)to introduce undergraduates to the ways that ecological, historical, economic, and cultural
phenomena are connected;
(2) to train students in research strategies that will identify and explore those connections;
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(3)to facilitate the in-depth involvement of students in original research that will contribute to the
scientific understanding of historical ecology, biodiversity through time, and characterize the causes
and rates of marine ecological change; and
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(4)to effectively measure the success of the project in achieving its goals, implementing curriculum, and facilitating learning. Our fourth goal is aimed at creating a model of innovative strategies for teaching field-based sciences and for evaluating the educational effectiveness of our approach. Our research program should also stimulate and encourage the REU students to pursue graduate education.
This interdisciplinary project will contribute to the understanding and conservation of marine biological variation through two perspectives. First, we will document economically important extant marine faunas through ethnographic observations of modern marine exploitation patterns by local inhabitants in the study area on four diverse islands in the Lau Group (Eastern Fiji: Aiwa Levu and Aiwa Lailai, Nayau, Lakeba). These islands were chosen through the PI’s previous research; their variability in size and physical structure are representative of the region’s island structure, fauna, and varying degrees of human impacts (planned focus for 2010). Second, we will generate retrospective data on marine diversity and exploitation through archaeological work (the bulk of our work in 2009). Together these data will characterize and clarify the causes and rates of ecological change in a representative insular marine setting. Both long-term temporal data and insights gained from Fijian traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) will facilitate the development of programs for sustainable use of marine resources in the study area and beyond.
PROJECT INFORMATION
TITLE: A Long Term Perspective on Marine Biodiversity and Conservation: Interdisciplinary Fieldschool in the Lau Group, Fiji
PROJECT PI: Dr. Sharyn Jones
CO-PI: Dr. Loretta Cormier
PROJECT DURATION: 2 years (2009-January 2011)
PRIMARY ORGANIZATION: University of Alabama at Birmingham
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN PROJECT OPERATION: University of the South Pacific, Fiji Museum, Alabama Public Television, McWane Science Center
