National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates
(REU)
Applications for the 2011 program will be
available in January 2011
An eight-week program (Summer 2011) will be sponsored by the University of Central Oklahoma.
This program is funded by the National Science Foundation. The first week will
consider aspects of the scientific process and experimental design before spending seven weeks in the country of
Turkey (based at Uludag University in Bursa) to study aspects of the foraging ecology of solitary bees and honey bees
in their native region of the world. These pollinator species are invasive in the United States but have
potentially positive impacts on agriculture in both the US and Turkey. Understanding the link between organisms and
their history in other regions of the world is a major goal of this program. In addition, undergraduates will be shown
the importance of international scientific collaboration as they participate in research objectives (described below)
with a multinational team of scientists from the US, Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria.
TRAVEL, HOUSING AND MEALS WILL BE COVERED FOR THE PARTICIPANTS. A $3,600 STIPEND WILL BE PROVIDED TO PARTICIPANTS. Cost of travel insurance will be subtracted from the stipend (about $250) as will the Turkish visa cost (about $25). Course credit is optional.
Research Information: Three broad areas of investigation will be included in the project. These include: 1) biogeographical comparisons of pollination systems in native and non-native settings that explore mechanisms of biological invasion; 2) foraging dynamics of bees as mediated by visual clues and/or handling time at flowers; and 3) behavioral assays to test effects of food quality and conditioning to various stimuli. Within these areas we test hypotheses that are ecological, behavioral, physiological, and genetic in nature. The PI and Senior Personnel links below, allow you to see the nature of the investigators' work in these and other areas.
