NSF REU – Plum Island LTER

The Marine Biological Laboratory is seeking applicants for two 10-week positions in the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The successful applicants will work as part of a large-scale, multi-disciplinary project examining the effects of sea-level, climate change, and changes in human land use of the marshes, estuaries and watersheds surrounding Plum Island Sound, MA. Housing will be provided at the field house in Newbury, MA.

REU positions are available to U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents only who are currently enrolled as undergraduates at U.S. colleges or universities (no graduating seniors).

REU projects will be drawn from the following areas: microbial processes and communities, sediment dynamics, plant ecology, population and community ecology of invertebrates, fish population size and diet, marsh carbon and nitrogen cycles, and watershed inputs and processing. Students will work closely with mentors to develop and conduct independent projects within one of these research areas. However, both students will be immersed in an active research environment and will interact with a diversity of knowledgeable wetland scientists conducting research on plant ecology, invertebrate ecology, and biogeochemical cycling. Students are expected to present their findings at MBL’s Young Scientist Symposium in August in Woods Hole.