With funding from the National Science Foundation’s LSAMP Program, OTS offers a research experience for students from NSF LSAMP Alliance member institutions. Students selected for the program will live at La Selva Research Station or Las Cruces Research Station for their eight-week program.
La Selva Research Station and Las Cruces Research Station provide undergraduate students with unparalleled access to tropical forest ecosystems, mentoring by experienced tropical ecology researchers, and training in field research methodology. Each student will work with an on-station (field) mentor as well as an on-campus (home) mentor from his/her home institution to ensure the integration of the summer research experience into students’ academic careers.
The OTS NSF LSAMP REU award covers the cost of room and board as well as international travel to and from Costa Rica. Participants will receive a stipend of $550/week for their 8 weeks of work on their research. The stipend will be received in 2 payments, one at the end of the 4th week and one at the end of the program.
The NSF LSAMP REU program (La Selva and Las Cruces) is open to undergraduate students who are (1) U.S. citizens or permanent residents, (2) members of underrepresented minority groups in the sciences (African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders), and (3) enrolled in an NSF LSAMP program. Graduating seniors (May or August 2020) are not eligible.
Important dates:
- February 15: Student application deadline
- March 8: Student selections announced
- June 8: Program starts at Las Cruces Research Station (students arrive in Costa Rica)
- June 15: Program starts at La Selva Research Station (students arrive in Costa Rica)
- August 4: Program ends at Las Cruces Research Station (students fly to the U.S)
- August 11: Program ends at La Selva Research Station (students fly to the U.S)
Interested students need to submit an application, which consists of the following:
- Application form
- Personal statement, to be typed in the application form
- Unofficial transcript. You will upload it to your application form
- Two recommendation letters; one of which is from your selected Home mentor. This person is someone you trust from your institution that can support you to integrate the REU experience into your career track. Home Mentors do not need to be academic professors, but should have some institutional standing. Home Mentors do not need to guide scientific research (students will have a Research Mentor in Costa Rica for that), but might be called upon to provide emotional support and encouragement depending on their student’s specific needs. More information on the recommendation letters will be found on the forms (to be downloaded from the application form). The letters should be emailed to reu.program@tropicalstudies.org by the recommenders.
