This announces a new initiative to foster participation in collection-based research by University of Arizona undergraduates.   The general goals of this initiative are to encourage UA undergraduates to take advantage of research opportunities available to them and to enhance the role of the natural history collections in the education and research missions of the University.

 Undergraduates participating in this program will conduct all phases of research from formulation of a question for study, collection and analysis of data, to communication of results through a written paper and a public poster presentation.  Examples of studies include:  describing and naming a new species; detailed anatomical description of one or more species or parts thereof; analysis of distributional patterns for one or more species; study of geographic variation within a species; construction of keys and/or field guides to certain groups; construction and implementation of outreach materials covering the diversity of a group of interest.

 Several opportunities are currently available to undergraduates at the University of Arizona who wish to perform original research using specimens in one of the University of Arizona natural history collections.  Credit is available as Independent Study units (399 or 499) with UA faculty.  Stipends supporting research are available from a variety of sources including the Research Training Group in the Analysis of Biological Diversification (stipends approximately $800 per semester), Research Experiences for Undergraduates supplements from the National Science Foundation (stipends vary), and the Undergraduate Biology Research Program.  This initiative seeks to centralize access to these opportunities and at the same time create a community of undergraduates and faculty interested in collection-based research.