UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #986

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Andrew Frank
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: Dr.
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): afrank@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Native American and Indigenous Studies Center and the Department of History
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/19206/headshot.jpg

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above): {Empty}
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Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable): {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}

Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: The Seminoles and Miccosukees and the Transformation of the Florida Everglades
Project Keywords: History, Florida, Indigenous, Environment, Resiliance
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: No
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 5
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Open to all majors

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: {Empty}
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: Partially Remote
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: 5-10
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description:
This project examines the history of the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians in the wetlands of south Florida and the scientific policies and practices that impacted them in the early and mid 20th century. In particular we will examine the history surrounding the "draining" of the Everglades in the early 20th century and the creation of Everglades National Park in the middle of the 20th century. The goals of the project are to see how scientists, conservationists, developers, public officials, and/or other Floridians who were engaged in these events imagined the Indigenous homelands and the future of Indigenous Floridians.

Research Tasks:
Each member of the team will collect and analyze sources created by a different type of observer: scientists, conservationists, developers, public officials, etc. These sources will mostly be found at the FSU library, online databases or archival collections, or if possible the State of Florida Archive and Library (downtown Tallahassee). Students may focus on a specific individual, type of scientist. or another way of breaking down these categories into manageable or interesting parts. Students will be encouraged to select the category that most suits their interest.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
none

Mentoring Philosophy:
My approach to mentoring undergraduate researchers is to allow students to create low-stakes but high-reward opportunities to do original research. This means that I encourage students to start with large collections of original sources that speak to broad topics, and then to create answerable questions as the evidence allows. So rather than looking for needles in haystacks and run the risk of facing failure, I encourage students to study the haystacks and then to pay special attention when they stumble across an intellectual needle or anything else that looks compelling.

I take this approach because all historical research (or research in general) carries a risk that a trip to an archive will yield no relevant documents or a stack of documents that do not speak directly to our most pressing questions. So I encourage students to have open-ended questions, to follow the sources to better questions, and to learn to continue asking new questions throughout the project. I am also a mentor who pays attention to students but does not hover at every moment. I believe that scholars need intellectual space to make their own discoveries and then they need guidance to grapple with what they have learned.  As a result, I help lead students to their initial sources and let them be creative and apply their own skills and knowledge to address important historical questions. As a result, I learn from their research even as I am providing some of the instruction. 

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: https://history.fsu.edu/person/andrew-k-frank
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
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Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
Wednesday September 3 from 1:00-1:30
Thursday September 4 from 2:00-2:30

https://fsu.zoom.us/j/2029728060

Roundtable Info:
- Day: Wednesday, September 3
  Start Time: 1:00
  End Time: 1:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/2029728060
- Day: Thursday, September 4
  Start Time: 2:00
  End Time: 2:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/2029728060

UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2025
update url: https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?element_parents=elements/research_mentor_information/headshot_optional_&ajax_form=1&_wrapper_format=drupal_ajax&token=H8F-qG24W1WLUlJAe3zkzcrYp6aCfz-JVN953YDPtRM