Research Experiences (REU)

Program in Interdisciplinary Approaches to Climate Change Adaptation Research and Training (PIACCART)

Overview

This PIACCART REU summer program will provide a diverse/under-represented group of students the opportunity to gain interdisciplinary research experience related to climate change adaptation as well as to have a better understanding of climate change adaptation challenges facing the United States and the world. We use a science of education approach that employs multi-level analysis to better understand barriers and facilitators of social, cultural, economic, political, and scientific issues of climate change adaptation. This approach will enhance the experience of participants and build on their interdisciplinary research knowledge and skills. Climate change adaptation research is an interdisciplinary field; therefore, the development of interdisciplinary research knowledge and skills will encourage undergraduates (UGs) to pursue broader climate change adaptation-related fields of studies at the graduate level. UGs of all levels can apply, but priority will be given to rising seniors from a range of disciplines; targeting students of diverse backgrounds. 

The USF St. Petersburg campus will host the nine-week program from May 25th – July 25th, 2025.

Goals

1) Provide a broad interdisciplinary research experience for 10 UGs/year who have different backgrounds – with particular attention to under-represented groups – but share a common interest in climate change adaptation research; 

2) Provide participants with a research experience to facilitate their recruitment into graduate programs in climate change adaptation research; 

3) Enhance participants’ data and information compilation and analysis skills’ development through guided research projects and training seminar on research methodologies and scientific writing-communication; 

4) Provide participants with a strong and comprehensive knowledge base, integrating the socio-cultural, economic, political, and scientific responses to climate change adaptation; 

5) Increase participants’ awareness and understanding of “climate justice” – the resiliency needs of at-risk communities;

6) Provide UGs, through mentoring networks, the opportunity to learn about graduate programs and careers in climate change adaptation research to pursue their long-term goals.

Our REU Site program uses interdisciplinary techniques that enable students to carry out supervised research in the following areas*:

• Analysis of Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Themes: Within the climate change adaptation and resilience context, Students will learn to analyze environmental themes in social media, speech acts, written texts, cultural artifacts, humanistic/expressive culture, everyday objects, and current events.  This will include robust training in close reading, inductive coding, grounded theory, eco-criticism, multi-scalar analysis, and applied social science research dissemination.
• Climate Change and Contaminant-linked Human Health Effects: Students will learn about the effects of climate change on contaminant-linked human health effects. Specifically, students will investigate the negative effects on population groups in the Tampa Bay area most vulnerable to the rapidly changing climate including the elderly, infants, children, and urban poor.
• Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in the Tampa Bay Area: Students will learn about racial and ethnic minority communities in the Tampa bay area, which are more at risk of the extreme effects of climate change. Students will identify these at-risk communities, investigate and understand their resiliency needs, and discuss benefits of climate justice for the communities.
• Discourses of Climate Justice, Ecological Modernization, and Sustainable Development in the St. Petersburg Environmental Policy Community: This project analyzes discourses constructed by stakeholders in the environmental policy community in St. Petersburg, Florida, to identify paradigms of ecological modernization, sustainable development, and climate justice in the work of influential actors addressing climate challenges. Qualitative data will be collected in the field through expert interviews, document analysis, and social media tracking. Analysis will be conducted to identify alignments between actors and discursive approaches to resilience, adaptation, sustainability, and justice.

*Subject to change 

View 2025 Project descriptions with the link below: PIACCART 2025 PROJECTS

Activities

The REU Programs' activities will be divided into three interdisciplinary modules that make use of various instruments and methods required to comprehend the multi-systemic phenomenon of climate change and create practical adaptation strategies:

• Collaborative interdisciplinary mentored research project.
• Seminar on scientific writing-communication and climate change adaptation research methods and tools.
• Professional development workshops with a focus on graduate school application process and selection of postgraduate programs with a focus on climate change adaptation.  

REQUIREMENTS

You must be fully available during this time and not enrolled in other classes or have a job if you were to accept placement on the REU. 

Students interested in the program are required to submit the following:

• An application.
• One academic reference letter (preferably from college, but high school is also ok).
  Unofficial college transcript(s).
• To be eligible for the program students must be enrolled in a 2- or 4-year college degree program, be a rising seniors, and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the United States or its possessions.  
• Applications from minorities are particularly encouraged. The University of South Florida is an equal opportunity institution. 

Apply Now

⇒Apply now for the Program in Interdisciplinary Approaches to Climate Change Adaptation Research and Training (PIACCART) REU program for Summer 2025!

All applications and related materials, including the reference letter, for the 2025 REU are due by  February 1, 2025 for full consideration.

For more information, please contact Richard Mbatu, Ph.D.

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