Research Experiences (REU)

Research Experiences (REU)

NSF programs will be hosted by the School of Geosciences at the 最新天美传媒 (USF).

Currently the School of Geosciences host two REU's: Weather, Climate and Society (WCS) and Program in Interdisciplinary Approaches to Climate Change Adaptation Research and Training.

Prior Departmental REUS

dr.van beyen taking a selfie with his eight reu students

Urban Water Sustainability (UWS)

This REU was held 2021-2023 at the 最新天美传媒.  It is now a prior grant and doesn鈥檛 currently have funding.

Students were paid a $600/week stipend along with free housing, food stipend, travel allowance to/from Tampa, FL, and a travel allowance to present their research at a national conference.

four image collage: one shows a photo of the landscapem a second of a pond in a garden, third is electric appliances and fourth is a photo of a solar grid

REU participants had to be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents of the United States.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded USF to host eight undergraduate students a year starting their junior or senior year in the upcoming semester to work on an interdisciplinary Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program focusing on Urban Water Sustainability (UWS). The students accepted into the program were paired in a team and worked with research mentors on specific topics that addressed environmental concerns related to UWS. 

The REU consists of five components, 1-4 occurring during the nine-week summer REU and the fifth in the following fall or spring:

  1. mentored research project;
  2. research and professional development related workshops;
  3. a short course on water sustainability;
  4. experiential learning field trips, and
  5. all REU UGs presenting their findings at one regional or national conference in Fall 2023 or Spring 2024 depending on conference.

Research Projects in 2023 included:

Project 1: Improving technology for reducing nutrient pollution from surface waters | Faculty mentor: Dr. Mahmood Nachabe

Project 2: Effects of Denitrification on Arsenic Mobilization During Conditions Simulating Aquifer Storage and Recovery | Faculty mentor: Dr. Erica Dasi

Project 3: Water purification properties of a constructed wetland | Faculty Mentors: Drs. Kamal Alsharif and Philip van Beynen

Project 4: Human impacts on water quality of urban springs | Faculty mentors: Drs. Chris Meindl and Philip van Beynen

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Philip van Beynen.