| NSF Org: |
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 4, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | March 27, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1358908 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Luciana Astiz
lastiz@nsf.gov (703)292-4705 EAR Division Of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $270,342.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $270,342.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2015 = $135,171.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
401 WHITEHURST HALL STILLWATER OK US 74078-1031 (405)744-9995 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
120 Agricultural Hall Stillwater OK US 74078-6016 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES, EPSCoR Co-Funding |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001516DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
This Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site will provide seven undergraduate students a research experience over a ten week period during the summers of 2015-2017. This REU site will generate important scientific discoveries in the rapidly expanding field of stream restoration, which has environmental and societal benefits of improving water quality, minimizing downstream flooding, and providing riparian and aquatic habitat. Participants will benefit from multi-disciplinary collaboration and experienced mentoring. Students will receive professional development training on ethics, responsible conduct of research, research writing, state-of-the-art equipment used in various disciplines, and career and graduate school opportunities. Results will be disseminated in publications/presentations at local, regional, and national meetings, through on-line videos, and also through interaction with society and community groups. Students for the program will be recruited from diverse groups. Oklahoma is also unique in that it is highly rural with a large percentage of Native Americans and first generation college students. The proposed REU program will recruit from these populations in combination with national recruitment.
The research will include studies in hydrology, geosciences, and biology at the Cow Creek Stream Rehabilitation Site on the Oklahoma State University (OSU) campus. The opportunity to study streams at a site on a University campus recently rehabilitated is unique. The central theme of the program will be discussing ways to rehabilitate streams, and specifically evaluating natural channel design approaches through process-based investigations. Many current stream rehabilitation projects use natural channel design concepts, which are often criticized. The alternative is a complex, process-based analysis of the dynamic system and impact of stream modifications on the hydraulics, sediment transport, and biological community. This project hypothesizes that future restoration approaches will most likely resemble a morphed combination of natural channel design and process-based techniques. Students will participate in research projects quantifying the role of vegetation on streambank erosion, documenting the influence of in-stream structures on retention in the stream, evaluating the effect of sediment on fish, using aquatic macroinvertebrates to assess streambank modifications, evaluating plant diversity response, and studying vegetation impacts on stream temperature.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program provided seven undergraduate students a research experience over a ten-week period during the summers of 2015-2017. The central theme of the program was discussing ways to rehabilitate streams, and specifically evaluating two different approaches to stream restoration: physically based versus process based. Billions of dollars are spent annually on stream rehabilitation across the United States. Many current stream rehabilitation projects use natural channel design concepts, which are often criticized. The alternative is a complex, process-based analysis of the dynamic system and impact of stream modifications on the hydraulics, sediment transport, and biological community. Future restoration approaches will most likely resemble a morphed combination of these two techniques. Throughout the program duration, 21 undergraduate students developed scientific research with mentors from a variety of water-based disciplines. In addition to research, students participated in professional development activities, networking, discussions focused on choosing graduate programs and careers, writing and literature search and organizing workshops, and outreach activities with local Tribes and the University.
Intellectual Merit: This project offered research experiences for undergraduate students interested in stream restoration. After receiving instruction from an interdisciplinary REU team on topics of interest in restoration (e.g., ecology, hydrology, groundwater), the students developed projects focused on various topics with interdisciplinary interest. Some of the topics focused on evaluating changes in stream biota resulting from changing temperature, groundwater contributions, and habitat to engineering-based projects that focused on understanding conditions that promote soil erosion of streambanks. All of our REU participants presented a minimum of a poster explaining their research and most of the students presented either posters or oral presentations at regional or national meetings. Finally, a few of the student participants were able to publish their research results in peer-reviewed journals. Many of the students have advanced to graduate programs.
Broader Impacts: Twenty-one undergraduate students were supported during the 2015-2017 program reflecting 70% female and 30% male participation. We emphasized recruiting students from non-doctoral granting institutions that have lesser opportunities for students to get involved in research. Students representing the target institutions formed more than 70% of the student participants. The final year (2018) of the program did not include an active program but allowed participants from the former year (2017) to attend a scientific meeting and present their research findings.
Last Modified: 01/25/2019
Modified by: Shannon Brewer
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