Facilities

BAE department chair, Dr. Bradley Marks, has extended full support for the project and ensured the availability of the BAE computing lab, classroom, and soil lab essential during the 6 weeks course duration. All the relevant software (MATLAB and Python libraries) and hardware are installed in the BAE computing lab. MSU will provide Desire2Learn (course management system) and MS Teams access for all students and teams for course calendaring, file management and storage, and academic support. 

Co-PD Dong is an agricultural irrigation and soil modeling Extension specialist with complete access to the MSU Extension farms. Dong will ensure the availability of university controlled diverse cropland for program field work activities. Permission for field visits/use (3/week) has been obtained from MSU Ag-Bio Research Associate Director Dr. George Smith.

To make the student feel comfortable and safe within the MSU campus, the project team ensure complete support from the Residence Education and Housing Services for enrollment in the program and accommodations . MSU residential facilities house 17,000 UG in residence halls with a full meal plan. Ample space is available in summer semester for the program; all participating students will be boarded in the MSU residence halls with complete meal plan vouchers paid from the project fund. Mr. Ray Gasser, Executive Director of Residence Education and Housing Services, extended his support for the project and ensured boarding for the participants. 

MSU has been ranked the No. 1 college and university dining program in the nation (https://admissions.msu.edu/life-at-msu/living-dining).

MSU has a history of successfully running many UG training and internship programs such as the Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) and the Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (ENSURE). More information on these programs is available at grad.msu.edu/srop and www.egr.msu.edu/graduate/ensure, respectively. This REEU program will collaborate with the SROP program. Dr. Steven D Thomas, SROP Program Director, has extended his full support and he will facilitate the participation of the UG students from our program in the SROP seminar series and workshops. This will have a significant value-addition to the learning experience of the UG students from this REEU program.

“The SROP program is a gateway to increase the number of underrepresented students in MSU graduate studies and research careers. SROP prepares undergraduates for graduate study through intensive research experiences with faculty mentors and enrichment activities (leadership, teamwork, and professional development lectures). The SROP provides an opportunity to combine professional development with applied work experience in your career field. This is also an opportunity for MSU faculty to evaluate participants as potential graduate students. The SROP program organizes seminars to expose students to research across disciplines. The weekly seminars comprise research work from MSU faculties. In these seminars, the UG students get opportunities to assimilate research across disciplines and ask relevant questions outside their respective academic disciplines. The SROP provides professional developmental workshops also to provide young UG students the tools necessary to successfully apply to and complete graduate programs at intensive research institutions.