REU Site: Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Cave and Karst Science (U-ROCKS)

Undergraduate Research Opportunities for Cave and Karst Science (U-ROCKS) is a unique Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site that gives students an opportunity to explore the multi-disciplinary field of cave and karst science. Karst is a type of landscape where rocks (usually made of carbonate, like limestone) are dissolved by interaction with water.

As the rocks dissolve, subsurface caves and underground river systems are created, and surface features such as sinkholes, disappearing streams, and springs may form. Karst makes up about 20% of the land surface in the U.S., and nearly half of the drinking water in the US comes from karst groundwater sources (also known as karst aquifers). Drinking water from karst aquifers is particularly vulnerable to contamination, and karst surface features can affect the ability to build on the land.

Therefore, specialists trained in cave and karst science, such as those who participate in U-ROCKS, are attractive not only in the academy, but for careers and work involving land management, water resources, transportation, and civil engineering. The recruitment process for this REU site will focus on the integration of students from historically underrepresented groups, including a cohort of 3-4 students per year from the University of Puerto Rico system, and a similar number from regional community colleges near James Madison University.

U-ROCKS REU site is designed to provide an original and independent well mentored undergraduate research experience, as well as a thoughtful approach to the students’ personal and professional growth.

The primary goal of the U-ROCKS program is to provide a catalytic, intentional, and sustained experience for a diverse group of ten promising undergraduate students each year. This will be accomplished via four different pathways. First, the students will conduct mentored independent research projects working on projects related to karst over a broad range of disciplines; some example projects might involve the geophysical characterization of void spaces, isotopic geochemical analysis of stalactite samples to get at paleoclimate, analysis of a fragile cave ecosystem, and development of land use policy to protect water resources.

Secondly, we will organize scientific workshops in cave and karst science to provide a broad and solid foundation and give students opportunities to share their work with the cohort. Thirdly, the workshops will have a strong personal and professional development component, with a focus on diversity and inclusion, scientific ethical behavior, scientific identity, belongingness, independence, and self-efficacy.

Finally, there will be a focus on building a diverse learning community through peer mentoring and social activities. The secondary goal of U-ROCKS will be to generate original, multi-disciplinary research related to cave and karst science, leading to abstracts and publications. This will be accomplished by strongly encouraging research projects and the mentor/mentee relationships to continue beyond the ten-week summer session.

The tertiary goal of the U-ROCKS program will be to further enrich JMU’s culture of undergraduate mentoring. This will be accomplished by offering a mentor workshop using the Entering Mentoring curriculum developed by Christine Pfund and others. Mentors from four different REU programs housed within JMU’s College of Science and Mathematics will be invited to participate in this roundtable workshop, enabling the sharing of experience and expertise to increase the mentoring capacity within the already formidable JMU community.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.