A Program Overview

Our CSUR program is designed to provide undergraduates an opportunity to conduct an independent research project under the guidance of a Fordham University faculty mentor. Select undergraduates receive a $5,000 stipend and free on-site housing to do summer research in a variety of biological fields. This program typically runs for 10 weeks, early-June through mid-August.

Not Your Typical Summer Internship

Work closely with 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.

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:

• The thermal defenses of the Eastern small-footed bat (Myotis leibii) against White-nose Syndrome (WNS)
• Landscape ecology of the Asian Longhorned Tick in Westchester County
• Harmful cyanobacterial blooms and nutrient enrichmen
• Urban Evolution in Lichen
• Evolution of self-fertilization in Brassica rapa: a pollination trial
• Bat activity in an exurban landscape and the impact of LED lights
• An investigation of the tree diversity and distribution found in Calder forest

See more undergraduate student projects.

The research areas of our faculty mentors include:

• Avian Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, and Conservation Biology – J. Alan Clark, Associate Professor
• Vector ecology, Lyme disease – Thomas J. Daniels, Calder Center Director, Associate Research Scientist
• Medical entomology, West Nile Virus ecology – Richard C. Falco, Associate Research Scientist
• Behavioral, Physiological and Biochemical Adaptations of Mammals – Craig Frank, Associate Professor
• Plant Ecology and Evolution – Steven Franks, Professor
• Plant and Microbial Community and Ecosystem Ecology – J.D. Lewis, Professor
• Animal Behavior, Population Genetics, Urban Ecology – Jason Munshi-South, Professor
• Aquatic Ecology, Ecology and Physiology of Algae – John D. Wehr, Professor