Undergrad Research Opportunities 03/04/2019
The Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURēCA) is an annual event that showcases research and creative activities by currently enrolled undergraduate students in collaboration with a University of Tennessee, Knoxville or UTIA faculty mentor. Entries can be individual or group projects and are judged by a panel of UT faculty members and industry partners. There is an additional category for projects conducted as part of a classroom assignment, including capstone projects (if capstone projects are not considered research in your department/college). These projects can also be individual or group projects. The Office of Undergraduate Research coordinates this unique competition to encourage, support, and reward undergraduate participation in the campus research enterprise and in the classroom learning of research methodologies. https://eureca.utk.edu/ Deadline to register is March 11th
REU Opportunity: Anti-Predator Behavior of Mammals in Conservation Corridors
We have one REU position available for a student to conduct a research project within a large-scale, replicated experiment on conservation corridors in South Carolina throughout the summer of 2019. The REU will be mentored by Dr. John Orrock (Associate Professor at UW-Madison) and Savannah Bartel (PhD student at UW-Madison, Orrock Lab member).
We will work with the student to develop a project centered around the general question: How does patch geometry modify predator-prey interactions and the foraging decisions of mammalian prey? Within this general framework, the REU will have the opportunity to select specific questions and hypotheses to test.
The REU will conduct fieldwork over the summer of 2019 (~May-August). The student will receive a stipend ($6000), along with an offset to living expenses ($600). All research expenses will be covered. The student will live close to our field station (USFS Savannah River), near Aiken, SC.
Interested undergraduates should contact Savannah Bartel (bartel2@wisc.edu) with a copy of their CV or resume, a brief statement of interest (~1 paragraph), and the contact information of one reference. Applications are due by March 18th.
NSF REU positions for mesocarnivore study in Washington state
Dates: June through August/September 2018 (~3 months)
Student Benefits: Hands-on research experience, development of a diverse set of field survey skills, and $800/month stipend plus housing and travel costs.
Location: northern Washington (two study areas, Methow Valley and Coleville area)
Position Description: Two NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) positions are available for students to participate in a study examining how wolf recolonization is affecting mesocarnivores (coyotes and bobcats) in Washington. Wolves began recolonizing Washington in 2008, and they may affect mesocarnivores negatively through killing and aggression as well as positively by providing carrion food subsidies. The goal of this project is to quantify these positive and negative interactions to better understand interactions among carnivores. REU students will work on a team of 3 people and interact with other teams of researchers from the University of Washington and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Students may conduct a variety of activities, including live-capture and collaring of coyotes and bobcats, scat collection, snowshoe hare pellet surveys, and monitoring scavenging at ungulate carcasses. Students will receive mentorship from project PI Dr. Laura Prugh (School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington; www.prughlab.com) and graduate students.
Who should apply: Students in their sophomore or junior years of college, with strong credentials and majoring in wildlife ecology, biology, or conservation are encouraged to apply. Participants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and currently enrolled as an undergraduate student. Students with backgrounds that are underrepresented in wildlife science are especially encouraged to apply. Students who have received their bachelor’s degrees and are no longer enrolled as undergraduates are not eligible to participate. A strong interest in natural history, conservation, and/or management and a high level of responsibility, organization, and motivation are required. Carnivore trapping experience and familiarity with the plants and animals of the Pacific Northwest are also desirable. Must be flexible and live and work well with others in an isolated setting. Applicants must be able to maintain work quality and a positive attitude during challenging field conditions that can include long field days in adverse weather conditions. Applicants must be in excellent physical condition, able to hike in steep, uneven terrain, bushwhack through thick vegetation, and able to work in both hot and cold field conditions.
To Apply: Please email a cover letter that briefly describes your interests and qualifications, resume or CV, unofficial copy of your transcripts, and contact information for 2-3 references as a single Word or PDF document to Anna Machowitz at annamachowicz23@gmail.com. Please apply by March 17th, 2019.
REU in Avian Physiological Ecology
Ever wondered about how stress affects the body or why some individuals are more resilient than others?
If so, join our research team and learn more about it!
The Heidinger lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, ND, is seeking undergraduate students to participate in a project examining the long-term consequences of stress exposure in a local population of house sparrows. There is one full time National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) position and several volunteer positions. Duties will include manipulating stress exposure, monitoring parental behavior, checking nests, and measuring offspring growth. Successful applicants must be enthusiastic and motivated. They must work well independently and as part of a research team. If interested please email 1) a cover letter describing your interest in the project and previous research experience, 2) a resume, and 3) the names of two references to Rebecca Young (rebecca.c.young at ndsu.edu) by April 1, 2018. Positions will run May-August. Salary $500/week and housing will be provided.
Paid Undergraduate Summer Research Program in One Health and the Environment
The University of Maine Initiative for One Health and the Environment is excited to announce a new NSF-funded REU program for summer 2019, entitled Accelerating New Environmental Workskills (ANEW). REU ANEW is a 10-week paid summer research internship. Each summer, we will invite 10 motivated undergraduate students to join our faculty and graduate students to conduct cutting-edge research at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health. REU ANEW students will have the opportunity to work directly with faculty research mentors, as well as Broader Impacts mentors who are working in the field to apply One Health research to real world problems. Through our program, students will develop critical research and thinking skills that are directly relevant to future career success, and build lasting professional relationships with their undergraduate peers, graduate students, and faculty and broader impacts mentors.
Are you interested in studying the link between genetics and marine mammal health, the risk of diseases known as zoonoses that can transfer from animals to humans, or how policy and climate change are impacting tick-borne diseases and their effects on iconic Maine species like moose? If so, you should consider applying to our new program! For more information and to apply, visit https://nsfa.umaine.edu/one-health/REU. Application review will begin on March 20 and all complete applications submitted before this deadline will receive full consideration. Applications received after this date will continue to be reviewed until all positions are filled. Please direct any questions you have about the program or the application process to anne.lichtenwalner@maine.edu and kristina.cammen@maine.edu.
Stipend: All REU participants will receive a generous summer stipend ($5,750) and living expenses, including travel expenses and housing at the University of Maine in Orono.
Eligibility: All REU students must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals or permanent residents of the U.S. Students must have completed at least one year of an Associates or Baccalaureate degree program prior to the summer internship, and must plan to continue in their degree program following this summer internship (graduating seniors are not eligible). As part of the National Science Foundation’s and our commitment to broadening participation, we especially encourage students who self-identify with groups that are under-represented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to apply, as well as students attending institutions with relatively limited research opportunities (e.g., community colleges and some undergraduate-only institutions).
The University of Maine is an EEO/AA employer, and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran’s status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Sarah E. Harebo, Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).
Undergraduate Research Opportunity in Alpine Ecology
The Doak lab at CU Boulder and the Morris lab at Duke University are recruiting two motivated undergraduates for a summer research internship in alpine plant ecology as part of NSFÂ’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. The students will design and conduct independent research that contributes to a larger NSF-funded project to investigate how demographic variation across geographic ranges determines species range limits and responses to climate change. To answer this question, we have been conducting a long-term, multi-site study of the demography and flowering phenology of two widely distributed and well-studied herbaceous perennial tundra plants, moss campion (Silene acaulis) and bisort (Polygonum viviparum). The REU students can combine short-term experimental or observational field studies with 15+ years of existing demographic data, spanning multiple populations, habitat types, and geographic regions, to ask compelling questions about the ecology or evolution of alpine plants. Examples of excellent questions that REU students could address include:
• How do changing climate conditions (snowmelt, temperature) influence the timing of flowering and pollinators?
• Studies of pollination limitation for plants in female or hermaphrodite-dominated subpopulations of the gynodioecious Silene acaulis
• Evidence for up or down-slope range expansion of either species in response to climate change
• Impacts of plant neighborhood structure on growth and survival
• Studies of these or other species across local elevational gradients, to assess changes in form or population structure that would correspond to or arise from demographic shifts.
The REU students will be based at the Mountain Research Station at Niwot Ridge, CO from June 1 to August 3, 2019 (the main flowering and growth season). Staying at the Mountain Research Station will allow the student to engage in rigorous field work at Niwot Ridge, take advantage of long-term research plots, and interact with other REU students and researchers. In addition, the student will be able to supplement field research at Niwot Ridge with trips to nearby alpine areas and other greenhouse or computer modeling work at CU Boulder. In late July, the student will also participate in the main project by collecting demographic data in long-term plots at Niwot Ridge and New Mexico.
We will provide the REU student with travel expenses, room and board at the Mountain Research Station, and a $400/week stipend. We will also provide support for research expenses, including materials or research-related travel.
The ideal candidate will be interested in pursuing a career in ecology, environmental sciences, or evolutionary biology, and have demonstrated abilities in critical thinking, organization, and working as part of a team. Candidates should have some background in ecology, environmental sciences, or evolution, and the ability and willingness to engage in physically strenuous or uncomfortable activities (e.g., hiking at high elevation, carrying heavy packs, working outdoors under a variety of weather conditions, etc.). Candidates must be enrolled in an undergraduate program at the time of the REU (i.e., students that graduate prior to the program are not eligible). Students from underrepresented backgrounds (first-generation college students, women, minorities, etc.) are especially encouraged to apply!
Applications should include: 1) copy of unofficial transcripts, 2) contact information for two professors or other academic references who have agreed to be references for the applicant, 3) CV, and 4) a one-page description of your academic background and goals, your interest in the REU position, any previous research experience, and any experience working or hiking at high elevations.
Applications and letters should be sent to Dr. Megan Peterson at megan.peterson@colorado.edu with “2019 REU application” in the subject line. Review of applications will begin March 15.
Summer internship http://cdcsercoevbd-flgateway.org/
The CDC Southeastern Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne disease is seeking applications for a student intern to work at the Tennessee Department of Health Vector-Borne Diseases Program in Nashville. Tennessee has historically reported the presence of Aedes aegypti. Recent risk maps as well as CDC maps have included Tennessee as a state where Aedes aegypti is present. We do have recent records of Aedes aegypti in scattered locations, but Aedes albopictus is found throughout our state. Recent field isolates of Zika virus in Aedes albopicus in Mexico have suggested the involvement of this lab competent species in the current outbreak in Latin America. This species is also thought to have driven transmission of Zika virus in Gabon (African strain) and island groups in the South Pacific (Asian strain). Better understanding of the presence and abundance of Aedes species in Tennessee is essential for understanding the potential risk of autochthonous transmission of Zika virus in our state.
Students will contribute to a systematic survey of Aedes mosquitoes and arboviral testing. Eggs will be collected and sent to the Vector-Borne Diseases Laboratory where they will be hatched and processed for species identification using molecular technologies. Additionally adult mosquitoes will be trapped and sent to our lab for morphological identification and processing for arbovirus testing. Students will gain laboratory, field, and epidemiology experiences.
If you have any questions about the position, call or email Dr. Abelardo Moncayo at (615) 262-6356 or Abelardo.Moncayo “at” tn.gov. The full advertisement for the position can be found attached below. Application deadline: April 15th, 2019.