PLANT FRIENDS AND FOES: PLANT INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER ORGANISMS AS RELATED TO PLANT HEALTH, AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT

This project is a research and experiential learning fellowship program for undergraduates from unerrepresented groups. Participating students will perform research and extension activities during an 8-week summer program at Penn State. Students will be selected from five participating minority-serving institutions as well as from Penn State, and 80% of students will come from the minority-serving institutions (Alcorn State University, California State University at Monterey Bay, Morgan State University, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, and Virginia State University). The topic of research, broadly defined, will be interactions of plants with other organisms, which could be plant pathogens or pests, and also beneficial interactions, all with an eye towards agricultural system applications. After the conclusion of the summer program, the students' research projects will be continued at their home institutions, in the form of a collaboration between their Penn State faculty mentors and their faculty mentor at their home institutions, for up to one year following their participation in the summer program. This will foster collaborations between faculty at Penn State and the minority-serving institutions, and will enable continued mentoring of the student by Penn State faculty following their participation in the summer program. Students will be encouraged to attend one or more conferences during year after they complete the summer program to present their research and results. Student outcomes will be monitored for several years after participation in the fellowship program, including graduation rates, participation in additional reserach programs or activities, applications to graduate school, and job and career choices. Finally, faculty at Penn State will receive training on multicultural literacy to improve their mentoring skills for students from underrepresented groups.