During this unprecedented time in our history when students are required to “stay at home” due to government imposed rules, we developed a virtual learning and research opportunity to work with previously accepted and displaced REU students to build their capacity to work with large online and openly accessible data sets.
Rutgers faculty and staff, with the support of faculty from a variety of other institutions, hosted students displaced from cancelled REU programs and students accepted to Rutgers’ Research Internships in Ocean Sciences (RIOS) REU program. Under normal circumstances, RIOS provides students with a 10-week opportunity to participate in hands-on research at innovative research facilities, including two marine field stations along the New Jersey shore. While students were initially disappointed that in-person internships were cancelled this year, students rose to the occasion and made the professional development workshop a success.
The professional development phase of our program kicked off on June 8th. We started the week by exploring how to create testable scientific questions using a Data Lab exemplar. We then worked with online NDBC datasets to build Python and data processing and visualization skills. On Friday June 19, the students worked in small groups to present their research questions, findings, and data visualizations. Beginning June 22nd, students transitioned to working one-on-one with a faculty mentor on a virtual research project and will present the results of their research later this summer.
W- Bailey Armos, University of Washington
E- Lydia Sgouros, Case Western University
L- Margot Chisolm, Middlebury College
O- Kendra Devereux, The College of Wooster
V- Patricia Vidal Geraldino, Universidad Ana G. Mendez
E- Alondra German, Nappa Valley College
R- Andrea Slekow, Austin College
E- Paulina Cadena, California State University – Monterey Bay
S- Brianna Velasco, Homboldt State University
E- Nikko Galanto, University of Guam
A- Trevor Greenwood, Milikin University
R- Kat Zic, The Ohio State University
C- Samikshya Poudel, Hudson County Community College
H- Alison Thorson, Sarah Lawrence College
! Kenichi Hirose, Stockton University
You can view our schedule here.