By Bev Makhani, Office of Undergraduate Education, and Merik Meto
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PULLMAN – Nearly 100 undergraduates from Washington and the nation are participating in National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded “Research Experience for Undergraduates” (REU) and related programs at WSU this summer.
Six separate, 10-week REU sites plus two REU-related or REU-like programs are running in Pullman this summer, the most at any university in the region. In each, students are paired with top WSU faculty members who incorporate them into meaningful work in new or ongoing research.
While much of the research and learning will take place in local labs and classrooms, one program the Laboratory for Atmospheric Research’s new REU is sending three students for a week to a multiuniversity “campaign” research site in northern Michigan as part of its program.
A public poster session, July 31 in the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education, will highlight the research results of all of the students. They include more than 20 WSU undergraduates as well as students from as close as the University of Idaho to as far away as the University of the Virgin Islands.
This year, sophomores through seniors are investigating topics such as artificial intelligence-based smart environments, side effects of muscle-related drugs, and atmospheric chemistry in deciduous forests. Their work requires them to use a wide variety of equipment, including scanning electron microscopes, lasers, florescent dyes, ultrasonic baths, molds, etc.
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“WSU has offered REU programs for many years, but this summer we have more departments and units participating than ever before,” says Dave Bahr, director of WSU undergraduate research and professor in materials science. Bahr organizes the July poster session, helps the REU programs line up housing for the students, and assists REU program directors as needed. He also has his own REU site and students to mentor. “The REU programs have brought in more than $400,000 in external support from the NSF this year alone.”
The summer 2009 REU programs at WSU are:
- “Smart Environments,” by the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, led by Diane Cook
- “Regional Atmospheric Chemistry: State of the Art Measurement and Modeling in the Pacific Northwest,” by the Laboratory for Atmospheric Research (LAR) /Civil Engineering, led by Brian Lamb and Shelley Pressley
- “Characterization of Advanced Materials,” by Materials Science and Engineering, led by Dave Bahr
- “Introduction to Multiscale Engineering,” by Mechanical Engineering, led by David Field and Cecilia “Cill” Richards
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“Characterization of Biological Systems,” by the chemistry department, led by James Brozik
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“Extreme Matter,” by the physics department, led by Matt McCluskey
Sponsoring an REU for the first time are both the department of chemistry and LAR.
Two REU-related programs are:
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“Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship,” College of Pharmacy, led by Raymond Quock and Neal Davies
- “Plant Genomes,” related to an NSF grant of Tom Okita, Institute of Biological Chemistry, and John Wyrick, molecular biosciences
REUs nationwide support active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas funded by the NSF. Students’ work may be part of an ongoing research program or one designed for the REU. Students apply directly to REU sites.
Features on students participating in REU’s at WSU this summer are available on WSU’s undergraduate website.
