NSF project led by Tim Ford featured in CBE-Life Sciences Education journal

A project originally led by Tim Ford, Ph.D., UNE Dean of Graduate Studies, was featured in the American Society for Cell Biology journal CBE-Life Sciences Education, Summer 2011. The article, submitted by the National Science Foundation, is entitled "Undergraduate Research Experiences in Biology:  Alternatives to the Apprenticeship Model Research." It explored some of the approaches advocated in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education, an effort within the biology community to meet the needs of 21st-century life sciences undergraduates.

The article reviewed a sampling of recent innovations integrating scientific research experiences within the biology curriculum.  Dr. Ford and his colleagues at Little Big Horn College and Montana State University are leading a Community-Based Participatory Research project with the Crow Tribe in Montana, whereby students conduct water quality tests, deliver samples for testing, and relate their findings to local health risks and then share with the community. 

When the project began in 2006, few tribal members had undergraduate degrees in the life sciences and none had graduate degrees. Now, 12 students are completing bachelor degrees and two have earned master's, and the students have developed an understanding of risk assessment and testing methodologies and an appreciation of local water issues.

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The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.