Our established professional development program addresses critical skills essential for academic and non-academic careers in environmental biology and complements research activities. Topics include crafting and delivering short research descriptions, the application process for graduate study, drafting and revising statements of purpose, writing abstracts, and preparing posters. We also discuss scenarios that students might encounter in responsible conduct of research, including scientific racism in genetics, harassment, responsible authorship, datamanagement and integrity, and social justice.

Guest speaks and panels include...

• research presentations by faculty and graduate student "near peers". These presentations, designed for a general scientific audience, provide an introduction to scientific discourse and expose scholars to a breadth of research across the life sciences
• faculty to offer comments on preparing a competitive personal statements
• graduate students who share their experiences with applying for and entering graduate study
• agency and NGO staff, and scientists from the private sector to describe possible trajectories into non-academic careers and policy-making.

“I liked that the REU had guest speakers who spoke about relevant issues that crossed multiple disciplines... integrating all of those disciplines helped me to think about the ways in which my own research can be examined through different viewpoints…in my courses now, I look for links between the material, and I can often find many connections that I hadn't previously thought about.”

Rising seniors may participate in an optional weekly workshop that occurs after the end of the program, mid-August through mid October, to draft, edit, and discuss proposals for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program.