This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1063101. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Research Experiences for Undergraduates in China funded by the National Science Foundation and proudly co-hosted by Alabama A&M University and Nanjing Forestry University 2012 Table of Contents Preface …………………………………………………………………………………. v Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………. vi List of participating REU students …………………………………………………….. viii List of participating graduate students………………………………………………….. x List of participating REU mentors ……………………………………………………… Alabama A&M University mentors ……………………………………………. xi Nanjing Forestry University mentors …………………………………………... xii Other participating institutions..…………………………………………………………. xiii Cultural trip experience papers Erin Brechbiel ………………………………………………………………….. 2 Dustin Mielke ………………………………………………………………….. 8 Emily Summers ………………………………………………………………… 13 Nara McCray …………………………………………………………………… 19 Rakeyta Scales ………………………………………………………………….. 24 Jonjala Jackson …………………………………………………………………. 28 Joanna Kukla …………………………………………………………………… 32 Calvin Means …………………………………………………………………… 37 Rashidah Farid ………………………………………………………………….. 41 David Farris …………………………………………………………………….. 45 Iwo Gross ………………………………………………………………………. 52 Scientific research papers Erin Brechbiel ………………………………………………………………….. 62 Dustin Mielke ………………………………………………………………….. 74 Emily Summers ………………………………………………………………… 83 Nara McCray …………………………………………………………………… 90 Rakeyta Scales ………………………………………………………………….. 97 Jonjala Jackson …………………………………………………………………. 110 Joanna Kukla …………………………………………………………………… 118 Calvin Means …………………………………………………………………… 129 Rashidah Farid ………………………………………………………………….. 138 David Farris …………………………………………………………………….. 144 Iwo Gross ………………………………………………………………………. 163 Preface Alabama A&M University (AAMU) was awarded a three-year grant by the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) International Science and Education Program (ISE) in 2009 to develop an international exchange program with China. The program is designed to strengthen AAMU's ability to develop globally competent students and faculty through collaborative partnerships with higher education institutions and research organizations in China. The program focuses on the fields of agricultural and environmental sciences. The exchange program also aims to enhance courses with international contexts to prepare and mentor students for international opportunities in agricultural and environmental sciences, as well as to add new dimensions to scientific research and teaching capabilities of AAMU faculty via exposure to international resources and technologies. Our primary Chinese partner for this program is Nanjing Forestry University (NFU), a comprehensive university with a tradition of forestry programs. In the summer of 2010 and 2011, a total of 25 students and faculty participated in this program and travelled to China. The development and the opportunities created by this program led to a new three-year program: Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) in China, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2011. The goal of the REU program is to expose undergraduate students with an interest in pursuing a graduate research degree in science to hands-on research experience. In the summer of 2012, eight undergraduate students from six different institutions across the U.S. (including AAMU), four AAMU graduate students (funded by the NIFA-ISE grant), and five faculty and staff participated the REU program. The program started with a three day orientation to prepare for international travel. Once they arrived at China, students and faculty took language, cultural, and history classes at NFU. Each student was then paired with mentors—including graduate students and faculty from both universities—with similar research interests to conduct a research project. The research projects included a diversity of subjects such as “Urbanization Effect on Birds,” “Effects of Forest Thinning on Soil Microbial Diversity,” “Spatial Dynamics of Air Quality in the Jiangsu Province of China,” and “Anthocyanin Pathway Gene Expression of Peach Flowers.” Students learned to design research, collect data, operate research equipment, analyze data, and communicate their research results with peers—some even with their newly learned Chinese language skills! The team had a three-day field tour to northern Jiangsu Province, including the poplar tree plantation and industry base at Sheyang County. In the early 1980s, faculty from NFU helped to introduce a hybrid poplar (genus Populus, hybridized in part from eastern cottonwood originating in Mississippi), to Shiyang. Once one of the poorest counties in China because of its high human population density, shortage of natural resources, and frequent flooding, Sheyang’s economy has been transformed, and the poplar has played a major role in its economic growth. A visit to Dafeng National Milu Reserve demonstrated the initiative and interest of Chinese to vi recover and protect endangered species by setting aside lands necessary for the survival of a species of deer that is extinct in the wild, the Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus), known simply as the milu in China. The Chinese are working diligently to increase the population of their small herd, to eventually release it back into the wild. While at Nanjing, AAMU team experienced the culture, people, and a whole host of foods that they never in their lives dreamed they would eat! They explored the city by foot, bus, taxi, and subway and became intimately familiar with the city in a way that tourists almost never experience when visiting a foreign land. Students climbed Purple Mountain; visited Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s Mausoleum; observed as weavers created hand-made silk tapestries in the Jacquard Museum; paid tribute to the fallen victims of the massacre by the Japanese during World War II, as commemorated in the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall; posed with enormous hand-carved mythical figures at the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty; celebrated the Chinese traditional Dragon Boat Festival with a big crowd of locals and foreign visitors; and visited a wide variety of stunningly beautiful gardens. The team had the opportunity to visit other major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Yangzhou and witnessed the effects of dramatic economic development during last 30 years. From Nanjing, they travelled to Beijing on a high-speed train at over 300 miles per hour. There, they climbed the Great Wall, walked through the halls of the (once) Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, maneuvered through a crowded Tiananmen Square, and observed the mile-long line of people waiting to see Chairman Mao’s body. Upon return to AAMU after six week abroad, each student completed two reports, research and trip/cultural, and created an individual website. The students had the opportunity to talk about their research and China experiences at two symposiums, once to an NFU auditorium packed with NFU students and faculty and another to the AAMU community including some students’ parents and friends. In short, faculty and students in the program are still reeling from the exchange trip to China that has significantly broadened their research, educational, cultural and language experiences. They are grateful to AAMU faculty and staff for their hard work to develop and coordinate this program and to NFU for hosting us, and for their gracious hospitality. The documents in this proceeding consist of the students’ cultural reports and their scientific research papers. Students and mentors worked together to complete these documents. Each student also created a website with additional information, which can be accessed at: http://myspace.aamu.edu/users/sha.li/reu/reu2012/ vii Acknowledgements On behalf of all of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program coordinators at Alabama A&M University (AAMU), we would like to thank the Alabama A&M University administration, the Nanjing Forestry University (NFU) administration, and most importantly, the National Science Foundation for their support in the implementation of this program. This program was a great success, and it absolutely would not have transpired without the support and understanding of the aforementioned. Thank you to NFU for allowing the REU program participants into your labs, your office spaces, and being so forgiving of our social faux pas. The students and faculty had a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime educational and cultural experience in China, and you all contributed significantly to this occurring. The AAMU professors, Drs. Yong Wang, Xiongwen Chen, Khairy Soliman, and Elica Moss, chose these eight undergraduate students from a highly competitive group of individuals from many universities across the nation. These students were chosen because of their academic strengths, their interest in the areas to be researched, and their compatibility with the project. In addition, we selected four AAMU grad students to assist with research projects and conduct their own research. We are proud of each of these students and all that they accomplished at Nanjing Forestry University and Alabama A&M University during this time. Thank you! Yong Wang, PI of AAMU REU China Email: [email protected] Elica Moss, Co-PI of AAMU REU China Email: [email protected] Lisa M.