Author: Lewis, Paul

REU in the Arctic

Position Summary: The Ecosystems Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory is seeking applicants for Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) positions. 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). Successful candidates will participate in field research on either terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems in the Toolik Lake Research Natural Area on the North Slope of Alaska.

Additional Information: In addition to gaining experience by assisting on a variety of project activities, REU students typically engage in a small independent project that is linked to larger studies of lakes, streams, tundra or land-water interactions. REU participants are expected to collect and analyze data and to produce a poster describing their project near the end of the field season.
We anticipate funding for support of at least two REU positions during the 2018 field season, both in association with the Arctic LTER project (http://ecosystems.mbl.edu/ARC/).
Candidates for these jobs should be available to live at Toolik Field Station for 8-10 weeks during June, July and August. In addition to a stipend, travel to Toolik Field Station is paid for by grant funds as well as the cost of room and board at the station.

Basic Qualifications: Applicants should have completed basic coursework in biology, chemistry and ideally ecology or ecosystem studies. Attention to detail and a desire to learn new laboratory and field techniques are essential.

Physical Requirements: Applicants should be in good health, capable of rigorous outdoor activity, and prepared to live in a field camp where cooperation with others is essential, personal privacy is limited, and living accommodations are spare and simple.

Special Instructions to Applicants: The following are required documents:
1) Cover Letter
2) Resume/CV
3) References – Names and contact information of three persons who may be asked to provide letters of reference.
4) Unofficial Transcripts.
NOTE: Please do not ask referees to send unsolicited letters; these will be requested by us for final candidates only.

APPLY ONLINE: http://bit.ly/2F3osdn

The Marine Biological Laboratory is an
Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity / Disabled / Veterans Employer.

Molly Kelleher
Human Resources Assistant
Marine Biological Laboratory
7 MBL Street
Woods Hole, MA 02543
508-289-7422
humanres@mbl.edu

Eric T. Schultz
Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Coordinator, Joint BS-MS Degree in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology
Director, Vertebrate Biodiversity Collections
Chair, General Education Oversight Committee
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269-3043
eric.schultz@uconn.edu
860.486.4692

Chris Nadeau Wins Schoodic Institute Fellowship

EEB doctoral student Chris Nadeau (Urban lab) has won the Second Century Stewardship Fellowship from AAAS, Schoodic Institute, and Acadia National Park to support his research on zooplankton ecological and evolutionary responses to climate change in rock pool crustaceans. He’ll be heating up rock pools and manipulating precipitation on the rocky coast of Maine.

March 8, 2017

Gene Likens receives BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award

Gene Likens has received a major award from the BBVA Foundation, the Frontiers of Knowledge in Ecology and Conservation Biology, recognizing his pioneering work on the discovery causes of acid rain and his long-term experimental studies of the impacts on ecosystems.

The award description on the BBVA website states “The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards seek to recognize and encourage world-class research and artistic creation, prizing contributions of broad impact for their originality and theoretical significance. The name of the scheme is intended to encapsulate both research work that successfully enlarges the scope of our current knowledge – pushing forward the frontiers of the known world – and the meeting and overlap of different disciplinary areas.”

Pam Diggle awarded NSF grant

UConn EEB professor Pamela Diggle has been awarded a collaborative NSF grant entitled “Can variation in flower development explain variation in phenological responses to temperature?” in collaboration with Christa Mulder (University of Alaska, Fairbanks). 

Pam describes the funded project as follows:

Climate change has resulted in increased temperature means across the globe. Many angiosperms flower earlier in response to rising temperature, and the phenologies of these species are reasonably well predicted by models that account for spring (early growing season) and winter temperatures. Surprisingly, however, exceptions to the general pattern of precocious flowering are common. Many species either do not appear to respond or even delay flowering in, or following, warm years. Existing phenological models cannot explain such exceptions to the common association of advancing phenologies with warming temperatures. We will test 4 hypotheses that focus on developmental processes that occur during preformation of flowers in the year prior to anthesis and function. Field work will be done in Fairbanks and lab work at UConn.  We will also develop project “Late Bloomers”, a citizen science network involving Alaskan Natives in remote areas of the state.