SUNY ESF UMEB: Program Goals

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For many ESF students, both urban and rural, the Adirondacks are their first exposure to wilderness landscapes. Many students cite Adirondack experiences and a desire for stewardship as a powerful motivating force for pursuing environmental biology in college. Focusing UMEB research in this arena allows us to build on that motivation and create a powerful synergy between class work in fundamental sciences and field work in service to stewardship goals. This context for research and education is particularly meaningful for many of our underrepresented students who express a commitment to integrating research and public service. The goal of the ESF UMEB experience is to provide intensive support and mentoring for students from underrepresented groups, particularly Native Americans. Increasing the numbers of students from diverse backgrounds in the environmental professions can broaden the nature of the research questions addressed in the scientific community and increase participation of underrepresented groups in environmental policy in their home communities and the world at large. The integrative theme of “Science and Stewardship” offers a context for students that bring together ecological science with its potential application in land stewardship policy. The proposed activities bridge the gap between traditional classroom learning and application of the knowledge in the field. - Provide students with a meaningful independent field research opportunity which can provide the stimulus for pursuit of graduate study and a career in environmental biology. Research project themes are student-driven and chosen from such disciplines as biogeochemistry, population dynamics, biodiversity and systematics, animal behavior, forest and freshwater ecology and other related topics. - Provide a nurturing community of mentors in which all students are supported to achieve their full potential - Enhance cross-cultural competence within our academic community - Expose students to the range of scientific career opportunities and to offer preparation and encouragement for pursuit of those opportunities - Provide students with opportunities for building critical thinking, communication, and professional skills - Promote interaction between students and the broader community through application of student research to community outreach - Provide an integrative model for students of application of fundamental ecological sciences to pressing issues of land stewardship