NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Interdisciplinary Research on Human Impacts in the Lake Champlain Ecosystem - June 1 to August 5, 2016

Our team-based approach will pair up students working on independent research in different disciplines,with each student serving as an assistant to their teammate, fostering deeper and broader connections across disciplines. For example, a student testing hypotheses about the influence of societal structures on the deposition of pharmaceutical contaminants in Lake Champlain might team with a student testing hypotheses about the impacts of by-products of common pharmaceuticals (e.g., toothpaste, birth control pills) on aquatic organisms, thus linking natural and social sciences through linked societal and ecological processes.

Students will also develop their professional skills and prepare for a career in science through our "Thinking Like A Scientist" Program, weekly journal club, and weekly "after hours" seminar on career paths.

All full-time undergraduate students with an anticipated graduation date after June 2016 are encouraged to apply, including high school seniors entering undergraduate study in 2016. Participants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must be 18 years or older before May 31, 2016. Students from institutions with limited research opportunities and underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

The University of Vermont (UVM) is located in Burlington, the largest city in Vermont, with an increasingly ethnically and culturally diverse population. Our REU program is based out of the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory on the shores of Lake Champlain in downtown Burlington. Students will work with faculty mentors from across the UVM campus and nearby St. Michael’s College.

Burlington is centrally located in the Champlain Valley, nestled between the Green Mountains to the east and the Adirondack Mountains to the west, and conveniently located just hours from Boston, New York City, and Montreal. The Burlington area offers an abundance of recreational activities including biking, camping, swimming, hiking, fishing, and boating, and a rich cultural life including food, music, dance, farmers’ markets, theatre, a vibrant waterfront, and the famous Church Street Marketplace. The area also has an extensive public bus system to which REU students will have free access.

From the November ISC meeting of the Fall semester, heartfelt congratulations for four newly approved degree plans:

Nimasha Fernando - Intercultural Health

Maniraj Jeyaraju - Health Ethnography

Erik Schwarzenberg - Health and Wellness Entrepreneurship

Jazmin Simmons - Culturally Responsive Techniques in Urban Math Education

The Oklahoma Water Resources Center hosts an NSF-REU in Stillwater, Oklahoma on stream restoration/rehabilitation. The REU pays for student housing, meals, research supplies, travel to a future conference, and also provides a stipend during the 10-week summer program.

During the summer of 2015, seven undergraduate students from across the United States conducted research focused on stream restoration/rehabilitation practices and approaches. 

Click on the website below to view a video about the program. Watch for the UMBC student at almost two minutes into the video.

The Center currently invites applicants for the 2016 Summer Undergraduate Research Program. This program provides undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct research in preclinical and clinical laboratories at the MPRC and other laboratories of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

In addition to a mentored hands-on research experience, students will participate in a didactic lecture series, research and ethics discussions with faculty, literature journal club, a career development seminar, and a Scholars’ Research Day at the end of the summer. Throughout the summer, students will work and interact with various faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and research assistants while gaining experience in preclinical and/or clinical research. Students will enhance their independent thinking and develop communication and presentation skills necessary to becoming a successful scientist.

Benefits

• Summer scholars will receive a stipend for a 10-week commitment (May 31 - August 5)
• On-campus housing is available at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) dormitory

Eligibility

• Students with undergraduate student status during the program dates
• GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• Ideal candidates have a strong interest in pursuing a graduate degree
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply

In the Canopy with Wheelchairs & Tardigrades

National Science Foundation Research Opportunity

3D Invertebrate Herbivory and Biodiversity in Deciduous North American Forest Canopies: Inspiring Students with Physical Disabilities to Pursue Field Biology

May 31 - August 9, 2015 | Baker University, Baldwin City, Kan.

We are looking for a few students who have the confidence to climb into the tops of trees and explore. Students who can ask questions that do not yet have answers. Students who want to learn from the unknown.

The Research Project

This is a three-dimensional research project to define the taxonomy and distribution of tardigrades (water bears) in the canopy and the herbivory of insects on a North American deciduous forest.The project is a fast-paced, tree-climbing, data-collecting, rapid-analysis and results-oriented internship. It is not for the timid. The plan is to climb and collect in the cooler mornings and spend the hotter afternoons and evenings processing specimens in the labs. Weekends include visits to local cultural sites and water bear hunts.

Students will be professionally trained to ascend into the canopy. There they will measure the impact of micro and macro invertebrates on the habitat and establish a baseline from which change can be measured. This is the cutting edge of ecological analysis in a world affected by climate change. Students will learn to use remote sensing, GIS, HPLC, GC-MS, and an EA scanning electron microscope to document the microenvironment.

Students will be employed for the summer. They will collaborate with the principle investigators to prepare their data for presentation and publication. They will also meet and network with the scientists and graduate students at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, University of Kansas Microscopy and Analytical Imaging Lab, Kansas State University long-term environmental research site, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Students may attend a regional, national, or international meeting and present their results.

Students will be part of a small team of young scientists who are defining and establishing a base line for the condition of the temperate forests before global warming completely exerts pressure for the forests and canopy to change.

The Hypothesis

Unlike in the tropics, there are no differences in the animals or plants that live at different levels of deciduous trees in temperate forests.

To test this hypothesis students will conduct vertical transects at multiple sites on various species of trees. Field collections will be moss, lichen and leaves.

Based at the new Boyd Center at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., the project will explore the canopy of the transition zone between the eastern deciduous forest and the tall grass prairie biomes.

In the lab, students will extract, identify and quantize the animals (water bears) found in each sample and learn to create scanning electron microscope images.

Students will analyze the chemistry of the habitat (moss/lichen) with GC, Mass, spec, and HPLC for its influence on the interstitial aquatic environment in which the animals live. The leaves of the trees will be analyzed for insect herbivory.

The data will be mapped with GIS to predict other places where similar populations might exist. The data will establish a baseline from which change caused by global warming can be measured in the future.

Students will use professional tools such as PowerPoint to present their findings at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and regional meetings. They will also have the opportunity to produce manuscripts for publication.