Katelyn Ward spent the summer of 2013 doing research on marine biomechanics.
Thanks to a renewed grant, about 40 more students will be able to participate in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at UF’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience for the next five years.
The grant will be for about $431,000 and will allow the program in St. Augustine to continue.
During the program, students will complete a marine-focused research project of their choice, said Elaine Seaver, the program’s head.
The grant, which comes from the National Science Foundation, funds the research program. Students who do research at the Whitney lab are paid and receive free housing, she said.
Seaver said she thinks it’s important to pay students, because she had to work during summers in college.
There are about 200 REU programs in the U.S., each researching a different topic.
About eight to 12 students are selected for UF’s 10-week program each year, Seaver said.
She said she hopes to update the program over the next five years.
"Even though the program has been in place for a long time, a strength is that we’re always updating it depending on faculty, research interests and changes in technology," Seaver said.
Ward, who now studies prosthetics and orthotics at Northwestern University, said the program helped her get in.
"I don’t know where I would be without the program," Ward said. "It’s incredible."
