California State University, Fullerton
AC-5: Immersive Experience

"The Southern California Ecosystems Research Program (SCERP) offers undergraduate Biology students opportunities to perform independent research and prepare for graduate school in ecology and environmental biology. This program was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (2002-2016) and is currently funded by philanthropic donations directly to the program. SCERP scholars receive up to two years of training for students to pursue their own research in conjunction with a faculty mentor, mentored travel to scientific conferences to present their research, and develop a plan to reach their career goals. SCERP scholars receive some summer support, research and travel funds during the academic year, and are eligible for CSUF funding opportunities through NSM Inter Club Council, Associated Students Incorporated, and the Faculty Development Center. SCERP scholars enroll in an intensive summer field ecology course (Biol 301) and must be available full-time during the month of June. Scholars work on developing their research approximately 10-20 hours a week during the remainder of the summer. During the academic year scholars participate in research 8-12 hours per week. Each scholar develops and completes an independent research project that culminates in a senior thesis. SCERP scholars enroll in Biol 480E that meets one hour a week and helps students prepare for conferences, write their research proposal, and develop resumes and career goals. CSUF Biology majors interested in careers in ecology, environmental industry, government agencies, or graduate school in biology, ecology, or environmental biology are eligible for SCERP. Students from ethnic groups under-represented in ecology are especially encouraged to apply (including African-American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Native American). The Urban Agriculture Community-based Research Experience (U-ACRE) Project is a collaboration between Cal State Fullerton, Santa Ana College, Fullerton College, and UC Santa Barbara. The project has been continually funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hispanic Serving Institutions Education Grants program as well as other sources. U-ACRE uses urban agriculture as a lens to understand complex issues facing our community, including food and housing insecurity, nutritional sufficiency, environmental justice, and sustainable development. We do this by engaging our students in community-based research, where our partners take a major role in identifying specific problems, and actively contribute to the research design. This approach has been shown to benefit communities and other participants through being agents of change, and it has important benefits to U-ACRE students, 90% of whom are members of historically underrepresented groups. Students who engage in research demonstrate higher levels of interest in science, and higher rates of success and retention. Undergraduate research has also been shown to be effective at reducing the achievement gap between students of underrepresented groups and others. With their climate app that uses a cloud-based, ""internet of things"" software platform, a team of Cal State Fullerton computer science, computer engineering and business students won second place and a $5,000 cash prize at the third annual GE Digital CSU Challenge in 2017.. The CSUF students developed a product called ""Airis,"" which focuses on addressing air quality and algae bloom issues — possible air quality health hazards — in San Diego. The Airis app is a system that empowers cities to meet their sustainability goals with tools to assess microclimates and predict ozone levels. Dr. Carrie Lane of the Dept. of American Studies has initiated a multi-week ""HSS Food and Sustainability Study Abroad Program in Copenhagen, Denmark"" that was begun with a preliminary administrative planning visit in 2017. The program was first offered to students in July 2018.

http://sustainability.fullerton.edu/u-acre/ http://news.fullerton.edu/2018sp/GE-challenge-win.aspx https://spark.adobe.com/page/dtsLAsWPN42PA/ http://news.fullerton.edu/2018su/Denmark-Study-Abroad.aspx