**contingent on funding from the NSF-REU**

June 5 – August 11, 2017

Through a grant from the Nation Science Foundation (NSF), select undergraduates receive a $5,000 stipend and free on-site housing to do summer research in a variety of biological fields as part of our Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program.

Not your Typical Summer Internship

Work closely with staff ecologists at the Calder Center, Fordham’s biological field station near the village of Armonk, NY, in a hilly, wooded region of northern Westchester County. The 113-acre site includes forest, streams, and a 10- acre lake. Learn more about the Louis Calder Center.

In addition, you will have access to study sites at nearby ecosystems, such as:

• Adirondack State Park
• Bear Mountain State Park
• Black Rock Forest
• Catskills Mountains
• Finger Lakes National Forest
• Fire Island National Seashore
• Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve (HERR)
• Harriman State Park
• Mianus River Gorge
• Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge
• Sterling Forest
• The Appalachian Trail

And several major scientific institutions are nearby, including

• Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
• Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
• New York Botanical Garden
• Bronx Zoo

Design and Conduct Your Own Independent Research

In the 10-week intensive program, you will complete a research project of your own design, attend short courses on conducting ecological field studies and data analysis, and make a presentation of their findings to researchers in the area and members of the station. Learn more about the curriculum and schedule.

Examples of recent undergraduate student projects include:

• Biological control of insects that transmit disease
• Connecting algal biodiversity with stream ecosystem health
• Ecology of symbiotic fungi in hemlock and oak forests
• Ecosystem responses to disturbance
• Evolutionary genetics and genomics of bacteria
• How forests respond to multiple stressors?
• How UV exposure affect microbial pathogens in a reservoir
• Impact of an invasive species on local mosquito species

See more undergraduate student projects.

The research areas of our faculty mentors include:

• Behavioral ecology of birds – J. Alan Clark, Associate Professor
• Vector ecology, Lyme disease – Thomas J. Daniels, Associate Research Scientist
• Medical entomology, West Nile Virus ecology – Richard C. Falco, Associate Research Scientist
• Evolutionary ecology of plants and invasive species – Steven Franks, Associate Professor
• Ecological genetics, biogeographic and anthropogenic effects – Evon Hekkala, Assistant Professor
• Plant ecology, ecology of forest canopies – James D. Lewis, Professor
• Animal behavior, population genetics, urban ecology – Jason Munshi-South, Associate Professor
• Freshwater ecology, phycology – John D. Wehr, Professor & Director