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LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA – Before concluding his senior year at Lincoln University, environmental science major and biology minor, Brian Cooper tapped into a different network of opportunities to expand his knowledge of science.
Submitting his application into a pool of 220, Cooper was the only HBCU student out of the final eight selected to participate in the Yosemite REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) internship at the Yosemite National Park in California.
The Yosemite REU is a collaboration between three institutions: the University of California at Merced, Yosemite National Park, and the USGS Western Ecological Research Center. Student activities mainly consist of individual research projects, spanning a broad range of disciplines such as Ecology, Geosciences, Biodiversity, Conservation, Restoration, and Hydrology.
Throughout the course of nine weeks Cooper’s task was to interpret, organize and analyze the data on the invertebrate diversity of breeding pools at Yosemite National Park.
One species that was of “special concern” and had to be closely researched was the Yosemite Toad. Cooper surveyed several meadows to assess if the environment was conducive for growth and reproduction. His findings generally demonstrated that this species tends to be found in larger and deeper pools, co-existing with other invertebrates.
“It was fantastic to get out there and do field work,” Cooper said. “Sometimes I had to hike 11 miles just to get to a site; some days it would take half of the day. I typically sampled about six different pools a day.”
During the adventurous research Cooper had to learn various objectives in the field of biology and the history behind it.
He worked closely with his student colleagues from Harvard and New York Universities, as well as UC Merced, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Oregon, and Merced and Fresno City Colleges. These students lodged together in cabins or in the Yosemite wilderness depending on the day’s workload.
After graduation Cooper plans to leave his hometown of Baltimore, MD and continue his education in ecology at either the University of Maryland or Georgetown University.
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Lincoln University – founded in 1854 as the nation’s first Historically Black University – combines the best elements of a liberal arts and sciences-based undergraduate core curriculum and selected graduate programs to meet the needs of those living in a highly technological and global society. The University enrolls approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students.
Internationally recognized for preparing learners and producing world-class leaders in their fields, Lincoln has created five academic Centers of Excellence-programs of distinctions. They are: Lincoln-Barnes Visual Arts, Grand Research Educational Awareness and Training (GREAT) for Minority Health, Mass Communications, Teacher Education and Urban Pedagogy and Business and Information Technology.