ANNOUNCING: Summer 2013 REU opportunity focused on Terrestrial-aquatic linkages in urban impacted ecosystems at Kent State University and The Holden Arboretum
Kent State University and The Holden Arboretum invite applicants for a 10-week summer research training program. Students enrolled in this program will conduct mentored research into the importance of terrestrial-aquatic linkages in the ecology of urban-impacted ecosystems. This research will be designed to examine how human activities such as urbanization, industry, farming, mining, and recreational activities affect the way terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems interact. Projects might compare sites with and without urban impact to examine: nutrient cycling in soils and streams, microbial community composition in forest soils and stream sediments, plant-soil interactions, how shredders modify terrestrial leaf litter input to stream ecosystems, the effects of terrestrial pollutants on aquatic microbial community structure and function, how terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemical cycles are affected by human activities such as acid precipitation and land-use change. Along with learning about hypothesis generation, project design, and ethics in research, students will receive additional training archiving data in a geospatial database and will participate in weekly seminars. Participants will be provided housing, a meal allowance, and a $500/week stipend. Students must have good standing at a community college, college or university and be a United States citizen or permanent resident. Members of underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. Deadline for applications March 25, 2013. For more information and application procedures please see the program website at http://ecologyREU.kent.edu or contact the REU Coordinator at [email protected] or the PIs Patrick Lorch ([email protected]) or Kurt Smemo ([email protected]).
