And we are rolling!
As Rachel announced in a previous note, we are collaborating with Jeff Bowman from SIO in the deployment, collection, and analysis of samples, as well as in the educational experience.
The gist of the NSF grant is to develop a CURE (course based undergraduate research experience) to involve students in research early on (we are targeting low division courses and even non majors). CUREs have been shown to be very useful in increasing indicators of student success (engagement, retention etc) in STEM, and this is particularly important for underrepresented minorities.
So we are attaching our samples these days to the Scripps pier, which involves divers but not boats, and so far no lost samples (which is nice- we were really bummed when the buoy disappeared just before day 60 the last time). In June we did a pilot with a BIO100A (this is the nonmajors general biology lab class) and students were positive about the visit. We are now in the middle of planning the "real thing," meaning not only the sample collection and processing by the class, but also a presentation of SIO activities and Q&Q with the scientists, including Jeff's grad students.
The amount of moving pieces to coordinate is a bit overwhelming, especially with our short courses, but things are moving along. We are also getting student researchers involved. In the meantime, let's keep our fingers crossed for no high surf on November 3rd, which is the day of the field trip. While we have extra samples incubated in the SIO lab thanks to Emelia, but it is not the same as getting the samples out of the water after more than one month (we deployed late September). Stay tuned!
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