NSF Award
0648735
ABSTRACT <br/>Proposal # 0648735 <br/>PI: Dr. Lauren A. Fowler<br/>Research Experience for Undergraduates in Fatigue Effects on Performance in Military, Medical, and Law Enforcement Personnel.<br/><br/>This NSF-REU Site is for a ten-week summer program at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. This program will provide support for ten students from across the United States to participate in ten-weeks of independent research in collaboration with faculty from Weber State University and researchers from the Air Force Warfighter Fatigue Countermeasures Branch. Students participating in this program will conduct research on the effects of fatigue on physiological, psychological, cognitive, behavioral, health, and social performance in military, medical, and law enforcement personnel. This REU will target women and underrepresented minorities, nontraditional students, students from institutions where research opportunities are limited, and students considering graduate school. The major component of this program is the opportunity for students to design, conduct, and present all aspects of a research project during the summer. Students, working with their mentors, have the opportunity to become principal investigators, delving into the scientific study of the impact of fatigue on performance in workers who are required to work 24/7 schedules. Other aspects of the program include training on Air Force fatigue countermeasure software, a seminar on circadian rhythms and shift-work, a course in research ethics, a course in graduate school preparation, field trips, social events, an end-of-program research symposium, and presentation of research at a national conference. Participation in this REU program will transform students from passive learners to active investigators. Students will learn the process of science by active involvement in research and come to understand the sense of community that cooperation in research promotes. The program seeks to encourage participation in research by providing role models and close interaction with faculty mentors and experts in the field. The impact of this program is to provide students with the opportunity to design and conduct research, assess their desire toward graduate school, and gain first hand knowledge of the application of the scientific method. In addition, the research conducted by student investigators in this REU will contribute to the growing pool of knowledge necessary to improve working conditions for our military, medical, and law-enforcement personnel. Students will have the unique opportunity to do both basic and applied research to help prevent decrements in performance related to fatigue in our emergency personnel. This site is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the National Science Foundation REU Program.
