COMMUNITY COLLEGE-UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP: ONE PROJECT, PARALLEL GOALS

A research project initiated by faculty from a community college and a nearby regional comprehensive university has provided faculty and students from both institutions with a variety of educational and research opportunities. The continuing project assessing harmful algal bloom dynamics in NW Florida has prospered due to the synergy between faculty and students pursuing separate, but mutually beneficial goals within the research collaboration. The coastal biogeochemistry project was launched two years ago in an estuarine site that is located in close proximity to the Northwest Florida State College (NWFSC), a community college with a two-year science program, and is built upon an existing research project being performed by University of West Florida (UWF) faculty and graduate students. NWSFC students actively participate in both field collection and lab processing of samples and provide manpower for the project and NWFSC lab facilities close to the field site benefit the project by facilitating high sampling frequency. UWF graduate students provide continuity between field seasons and access to UWF’s advanced research analytical capabilities that are not available at NWFSC. As such, the project depends on the interaction of parties (faculty and student) from both institutions and prospers where the individual institutions would likely fall short. The research project has been incorporated into NWFSC courses, is related to at least two UWF master’s theses, and was the foundation for a funded NSF research grant and additional research proposals with NWFSC and UWF personnel as PIs. Additionally, the collaborators are a married couple and this project has provided an opportunity to deal with the challenge of being a couple with two academic careers in the same discipline.