REU Internship in Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Michigan Technological University

Overview: We seek 2 motivated and enthusiastic undergraduate students for a summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) internship in Dr. Erika Hersch-Green’s Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Lab at Michigan Technological University. This is a 10-week, full-time, paid internship. Dates are flexible but will run from approximately the end of May or beginning of June till August 2024. The selected student will receive ~$600/week for the 10-week duration as a stipend, up to $1000 to defray travel costs to Houghton MI, and will be provided with research funds to support their project.

The selected students will be mentored by Dr. Hersch-Green to contribute to an ongoing NSF-funded research project that focusses on the interacting roles that nutrients, disturbances, plant genome size, and plant morphological/chemical/physiological traits have on community dynamics and species interactions (herbivores, pollinators, etc.). Data from this project is collected at experimental sites that are part of the NutNet and DRAGnet (for design and background see https://nutnet.org/ [3]) research consortiums in which plots are exposed to different nutrient and disturbance treatments.

Selected students will develop and conduct an independent research project that contributes to the overall goals of the larger research project. Students will have opportunities to conduct laboratory, greenhouse, and/or field work at local our experimental field site (see https://youtu.be/H6MtEnAIyi0 [4]).

Eligibility: Applicants must currently be a (1) U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or permanent resident and (2) an undergraduate freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior graduating no earlier than September 2024 or a high school senior that will start their undergraduate education fall 2024. We encourage applications from students from traditionally under-represented groups in biology/STEM fields (i.e., African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, students with disabilities, first generation college students, veterans, women, LGBTQ students) as well as students from institutions with limited research opportunities (e.g., community colleges) and/or students in financial need. Applicants should be flexible to adapt to the ever-changing constraints and opportunities associated with field research.

To Apply: Interested students should submit an email to Dr. Hersch-Green (eherschg@mtu.edu [5]) no later than March 1st that includes the following: (1) a letter of interest that describes your educational background, educational and/or career goals, and how this internship will contribute towards those goals, (2) a current curriculum vitae/resume, and (3) an unofficial transcripts; after review of applicants I will contact selected candidates for further discussion - at which time two letters of recommendation will be requested.

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