Michigan State University offers several NSF Advanced Computational
Research Experience for Students (ACRES) REU positions for Summer 2017
One to three positions are available for the project: Predicting
Biodiversity Hotspots and Coldspots in Space and Time
Mentors: Drs. Phoebe Zarnetske, Kyla Dahlin, Patricia Soranno, Kendra
Cheruvelil, Andrew Finley, and Lifeng Luo.
A major challenge for scientists is to generate robust models that
describe and predict biodiversity in space and time. With these
models, we can identify hotspots (highs) and coldspots (lows) of
biodiversity change, which are likely linked with shifts in ecosystem
functions and services. Students will have the opportunity to study
and forecast the effects of climate change on biodiversity and
ecosystem functioning, using a variety of computational tools and
spatial analysis. Key aspects of the project include: analyzing ?big
data? from the NSF National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), learning remote
sensing techniques, conducting statistical spatial analysis in R
(including species distribution modeling), learning Python and QGIS,
and learning to run models on the MSU High Performance Computing
Cluster.
Prior coursework in biology, ecology, or environmental science is a
plus but not required.
Other ACRES REU opportunities are also available at Michigan State. To
learn more about these opportunities, and to apply, visit:
https://icer-acres.msu.edu/
For other questions, contact Dr. Phoebe Zarnetske: [email protected]
Laura A. Twardochleb
PhD Student
Zarnetske Spatial & Community Ecology Lab
Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife
Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior
Michigan State University
communityecologylab.weebly.com
