NSF Grant to Fund Student Research in Thailand

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Steve Stephenson, research professor in Fulbright College, will coordinate a new student research program with scientists in the U.S. and Thailand.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas has been awarded a $147,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Studies of Fungal Biodiversity in Northern Thailand.” The NSF funding will support a research program that provides the opportunity over three summers for four undergraduate or graduate students to spend a month carrying out biodiversity studies of fungi and fungus-like organisms associated with tropical forests in northern Thailand as research projects.

“Tropical forests are thought to be the terrestrial ecosystems characterized by the highest fungal biodiversity, but a major portion of this biodiversity has yet to be documented. In Thailand, the student participants will interact with scientists and graduate students at Chiang Mai University, Mae Fah Luang University and the Mushroom Research Centre,” said program coordinator Steve Stephenson, a research professor in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

The international aspects of the program are expected to represent an extraordinary training and educational experience for students, since the interaction with their student counterparts in Thailand will involve sharing the same accommodations, joint field work at study sites in northern Thailand and laboratory-based sessions during which they will work together on processing and analyzing samples and data.

Dennis Desjardin of San Francisco State University and Steve Miller of the University of Wyoming are co-directors. Mycologists in Thailand involved in the program are Kevin Hyde at Mae Fah Luang University and Saisamorn Lumyong at Chiang Mai University.

The first period of student research in Thailand will be carried out during mid-June to mid-July of 2010. Potential student research projects would include studying the basidiomycetous fungi associated with coarse woody debris and forest floor litter, ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with the forests of northern Thailand, and the ecological assemblages of macrofungi and slime molds of different types of forest communities.

To be eligible for the program, students must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its territories. The program is open to both undergraduate students enrolled in a degree program either full- or part-time leading to a bachelor’s degree and graduate students pursuing an advanced degree. Because of the somewhat specialized nature of the research projects to be carried out, any student applying for the program would be expected to have completed or be scheduled to complete by the end of the academic year in which their application was submitted at least one course in general mycology.

Especially welcome are applications from students attending predominantly undergraduate institutions, students who are the first members of their family to attend college, non-traditional students returning to school and students from ethnic groups that are traditionally under-represented in the sciences. The program will cover all of the costs involved — roundtrip airfare, health insurance, lodging, meals and travel to study sites — in carrying out a research project in Thailand. Each student participant will receive a stipend of $1,750.

Potential participants should submit applications directly to Steve Stephenson, the program coordinator at the University of Arkansas. Each application must consist of a letter expressing the student’s interest in being considered for the program, a copy of the student’s academic transcript, letters of recommendation from two persons and a two-page essay addressing the development of the student's interest in mycology, tropical ecology or evolutionary biology, as well as current professional career goals.

All application materials can be submitted to Stephenson by regular mail, e-mail at slsteph@uark.edu or by fax at 479-575-4010. All materials must be received on or before Feb. 1, 2010. The students selected for the program plus at least two alternates will be selected by March 15, 2010.