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Jim Cotter

whatta guy

Summer 2006 REU students pose by a river in the Brazilian outback.

REUer Kim Greeley stands with geologist Tony Rocha-Campos at a Paelozoic sandstone outcrop near Witmarsum, Brazil.

Experts on local geology look on as Jim Cotter and his students conduct field research in Brazil.

The 2005 REU group visits a state park in Brazil. These outcroppings, which some say resemble peoples' faces, earned the name "village of the ancients;" Villa Velha.

How does a relatively sane professor find himself surrounded by a bunch of college women scientists on their first geological exploration of Brazil?   Well, if the guy is Jim Cotter, the answer is simple: REU!

Cotter's history with UMM is a long one--he began teaching at UMM in the fall of 1984. Perhaps you're one of those amused alumni who experienced his unique classroom style in the course Cotter made famous, affectionately titled "Rocks for Jocks."   Well, Cotter isn't just the guy who can entertain an auditorium of undergrads with his lecture antics.   Former UMM Chemistry Professor Joe Latterell saw potential and in 1988, he convinced Cotter to join in a new summer program for minority and economically disadvantaged high school students; Project SEE.

"After that experience, I wanted to do something similar at a college student level," says Cotter.   In 1989, he was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to develop a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project.  

"Only problem was, no minorities applied for the project," Cotter recalls. "So I got approval from the NSF to create a program just for women."   His first REU group in 1989 totaled five students and the next year, it jumped to ten.   Since then, the nine-week summer program has averaged eight participants each year.

"The way it works, in any given year, is that only half of my REU participants can be UMMers," Cotter explains.   "So as of 2005, there's been a total of 77 women participants in our REU program and 39 were from UMM."  

In the spring of '05, Cotter organized an REU reunion at the Geological Society meeting in Minneapolis and 40 former REUers were able to show up.   "It's great to see how their careers have progressed" he says, "especially the ones that were in the program early, like Tammy Rittenauer.   She was in SEE in 1989 and in REU in 1993 and two years ago, Tammy finished her PhD in geology."

Over the years, Cotter has hired REU alumni to work as teaching assistants in the REU program.   The TAs provide role models for students in REU and also give students individual attention on research projects.   Cotter believes the REU TAs also had a strong influence on the development of the program.   An early example was Gina Keenan, the TA in 1990.   She suggested that the REU experience should be more about women students exploring new areas of interest and less about giving them a specific research topic to work on.

"Instead of steering students, we gave them freedom to look at topics from multiple perspectives.   It was a big transition," Cotter notes.

  "The TAs I've worked with in REU taught me how to be a better mentor," he adds. "They also brought their knowledge of technology to the program.   We now use GIS (Geological Information Systems), which provides digitalized computer mapping information for REU research. Students use computer technology for their presentations and posters."

For over a decade, Cotter's own research in glacial sediments has taken him to Brazil.   There, he met Tony Rocha-Campos in 1990.   The two professors collaborated on research projects in the 90's. Later, in 2002 and 2003, Cotter brought several NSF research students with him to continue his Brazilian research projects. Rocha-Campos then joined Cotter and his REU students on a trip to Canada to study glaciers in the Rockies. Rocha-Campos discovered that he liked interacting with the REU undergraduates.

That experience convinced Cotter and his comrade to take the REU experience up a notch in 2005.   Eight REU students traveled with Cotter to Brazil to study with Rocha-Campos and his students.   It was a daunting project to plan and coordinate.

"Well, there were dangers to consider," says Cotter.   "Brazil has a high crime rate and we were bringing many young women there. We needed to create a safe situation and that meant an agreement from everyone involved on modes of operation. Fortunately, they were all good about it."

The other challenge for the REU group in Brazil was one of language.   Only Cotter spoke some Portuguese on the Minnesota side of the group, with Rocha-Campos providing a good knowledge of English on his side.   Again, Cotter found he could rely on the strength of his TA to make the situation go from shaky to solid.   He gives Heather Anderson credit for providing a stabilizing influence for the student travelers.

"Heather went to Brazil as a UMM geology undergrad.   She was in REU in 1995 and was a TA for the program twice before this.   She really believes in the program and actually took a leave from her job and working on her masters in geology at UMD to do this with us.    Geez, she even put her marriage plans on hold, all to do REU for nine weeks!" says Cotter.

"Heather believes in REU because she values mentors herself.   And we needed her special personality!   This kind of international travel incurs challenges.   The roads are insane and we were in Brazil during their winter.   But Heather was comfortable both in the cities and farms.   She kept the students' spirits high and helped give them confidence in an unfamiliar situation."

When Cotter and his REU students returned to Minnesota, they hosted Rocha-Campos and several of his Brazilian students.   The two groups took research trips together to study boulder pavements along the Coteau des prairie in South Dakota.

The trip to Brazil was so successful; Cotter plans to have this research location be an ongoing component of his REU program for women.   "We'll go again in '07 and '09," he says. "It would be just too much to try to pull this off every year."

However, one component of Cotter's REU program will definitely continue on a yearly basis--the positive impact of women scientists teaching and learning together.   He notes that in student evaluations of the REU program, the most consistent feedback involves the value these women students place on their experience of learning together.

"Bonding with other women in science is a key benefit as they develop their careers," Cotter reports.   "REU allows them to ask questions of each other and support each other as they explore those questions."

In addition, Cotter has found that offering an REU program for women in geology has been a boost to his own research.   "I've had 77 pairs of eyes checking the lay of the land, and it always helps your own research to have others ask questions about it," he observes.   "The cumulative effect is that we've built a solid understanding of the geology in Minnesota because these women have studied it."