Applications are being accepted for a NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program based at Colby College and South Gondar, Ethiopia. This REU will provide eight American undergraduate students from diverse academic backgrounds an opportunity to conduct path-breaking interdisciplinary research on the ecological, economic and cultural roles of church forests. Church forests are patches of Afromontane forest surrounding Ethiopian Orthodox churches. Preserved for centuries by church leaders and communities as religious sanctuaries, church forests are, in many parts of Ethiopia, the only indigenous forests left.

Under the eight-week summer REU program students will receive training at Colby College in social survey research, ecological field methods, spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and written and oral communication. They will then travel to South Gondar, Ethiopia to conduct hands-on fieldwork with mentors from Colby College, the California Academy of Sciences, and local academic and government institutions.

Completed applications including 2 letters of recommendation are due by February 15th. The 2016 Summer REU Site program will run from July 6th– August 24th (approximate). All participants must be enrolled at a U.S. college or university at the time of the program (seniors graduating in Spring 2016 are not eligible).

Details about the project and application instructions can be found at: http://www.colby.edu/reu-in-ethiopia/