Introduction to UBRP

Purpose

The Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP) is an educational program designed to teach students science by involving them in biologically related research. Students are paid for their time in the lab where they develop an understanding of scientific method and receive a realistic view of biological research. They also acquire the tools necessary to be successful in post-graduate studies in biology should they choose careers related to biology or biomedical research. UBRP demonstrates how the resources of a major research university can be brought to bear on undergraduate education.

History

UBRP started in 1988 in the Department of Biochemistry and was supported initially by departmental funds and from faculty sponsors' research grants. The program expanded significantly in June 1989 with support from grants made by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Faculty sponsors pay half of the UBRP students' wages. UBRP is supported currently by grants from HHMI, NSF, NIH, and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). UBRP now supports 140 University of Arizona undergraduate students per year and includes more than 240 faculty sponsors drawn from 43 University of Arizona (UA) departments, the Western Cotton Research Lab in Phoenix, the Mayo Clinic/Scottsdale, the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix, and the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

People

Carol Bender
Director, Undergraduate Biology Research Program and Related Programs
bender@u.arizona.edu
Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Carol came to the University of Arizona in 1988 and assumed her present position in 1989. She has watched UBRP grow from its promising beginning of 19 students and 13 faculty members in 1988 to its 2001 size of 140 students and 240 faculty members. Research opportunities for students now include placements at Barrow Neurological Institute, the Mayo Clinic/Scottsdale, the USDA Western Cotton Research Laboratory, the Arizona Science Center, and the USGS Desert Research Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill. Experienced UBRP students can also apply for funding to participate in research abroad related to the research they do at UA through the Biomedical Research Abroad: Vistas Open! (BRAVO!) Program. BRAVO! participants have been involved in research in 23 countries. Laboratories in both the developing and developed world are included in the project. In addition to program planning, proposal development, and project administration, Carol enjoys travel and has visited several of the BRAVO! sites. She participated in the 1997 Fulbright-sponsored International Education Administrators Program in Japan.

Genevieve Kenney
Senior Office Specialist
gpkenney@u.arizona.edu

Genevieve provides administrative, secretarial and coordinating support to the Undergraduate Biology Research Program. She "wears many different hats" and is responsible for a wide range of "behind the scenes activities" from database maintenance to editing the UBRP newsletter to coordinating outreach programs for elementary school teachers and children. She is the person that students first see when they stop by the UBRP office.