**This list will be renewed and updated periodically, as more mentors/projects become available**
Potential 2021 Projects: Now available!
The purpose of the project list, is to give applicants an idea of the kinds of projects PEP students may do in 2020. Potential applicants might also review recent projects students have completed in 2017-2019.
Note: The program cannot guarantee a direct project/mentor match. However, your interests will be taken into consideration.
The PEP staff and the research mentors will work together to match students in labs where they can be successful. In your application, you may indicate which three mentors or projects interest you. If we offer you a spot in the 2020 program, we will take your interests into consideration. Soon after we extend offers (in mid-March) to participate, we will assign mentors and will put students in touch with their mentors to discuss potential projects.
Stace Beaulieu, Heidi Soski, and Rubao Ji
Mentors and Lab: Dr. Stace Beaulieu; Dr. Heidi Soski; and Dr. Rubao Ji
Institution/Department: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biology Department
Research Interests: biodiversity; data provenance; deep-sea ecology; hydrothermal vents; marine invertebrates; ocean informatics; seafloor observatories
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: Modeling biological-physical interactions in coastal ocean ecosystems. This may be of interest to a student who has some, and would like to gain more, computational experience. This project would involve and build programming skills.
Chris Sherwood
Mentor and Lab: Dr. Christopher Sherwood
Institution/Department: USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Research Interests: Coastal oceanography and measuring and modeling sediment transport and coastal morphology changes
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: “Remote Sensing and Modeling Coastal Climate Change” -- Using imagery from drones or occupied planes combined with multi-view to make super-high resolution maps of beaches, dunes, and wetlands. These maps are used to evaluate changes caused by storms and as input to numerical models of morphological evolution, including coastal erosion. Summer students can choose from several topics using data from local beaches and wetlands or larger-scale projects on the US east coast. Learn more here.
Brian Stock
Mentors and Lab: Dr. Brian Stock
Institution/Department: NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center/NRC Post-Doctoral Fellow working in the NEFSC Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division
Research Interests: Developing statistical methods to improve our understanding and management of fisheries. Currently working with Dr. Tim Miller to extend population assessment models to incorporate environmental effects
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects:” Length-based assessment of a Nassau Grouper spawning aggregation in the Cayman Islands” – Making length measurements of fish from the laser caliper videos, with some basic analysis as time allows. More here, including potential research questions for 2020. Learn more here.
Kenneth Foreman
Mentors and Lab: Dr. Kenneth Foreman
Institution/Department: Marine Biological Laboratory/Semester in Environmental Science
Research Interests: effects of nutrient loading and eutrophication in the coastal zone – especially shallow bays and estuaries that receive the majority of their nutrient inputs through submarine groundwater discharge.
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: Study of groundwater biogeochemistry, nutrient cycling and nutrient contamination from wastewater on estuaries and coastal ponds. Students will be involved in field and lab that requires knowledge of basic chemistry. More here, including potential projects. Learn more here.
Julie Huber
Mentors and Lab: Dr. Julie Huber
Institution/Department: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry
Research Interests: Marine microbiology, biogeochemistry & genomics; Subseafloor biosphere; Deep-sea hydrothermal vents; Deep-sea instrumentation; Astrobiology
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: Work will focus on projects related to deep-sea microbiology, including anaerobic cultivation, microscopy, and molecular biology. Students are encouraged to visit the link above to learn more about research in the Huber lab.
Matthew Birk
Mentors and Lab: Matthew Birk
Institution/Department: Marine Biological Laboratory, Post-Doctoral Fellow
Research Interests: mechanisms through which animals balance oxygen supply and demand; broadly interested in many aspects of cephalopod biology;
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: Lab uses integrative approach that incorporates biochemistry, genetics, physiology, behavior, and ecology to gain a holistic understanding of cephalopods and their role in marine ecosystems. Summer project will focus on investigating potential effects of hypoxia (low environmental oxygen) on visual processing and cephalopod camouflage behavior.
Meagan Gonneea
Mentors and Lab: Dr. Meagan Gonneea
Institution/Department: USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Research Interests: the interface of land and sea; building new tools to address coastal hazards.
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: coastal regions are experiencing rapid change, with new pressures from rising temperatures and sea level adding to those already wrought by the impacts of coastal development.
Matthew Charette
Mentors and Lab: Dr. Matthew Charette
Institution/Department: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry
Research Interests: Marine chemistry in the coastal and open ocean; use of natural and artificial radionuclides as tracers of oceanographic processes; remote sensing of coastal oceanographic processes using in situ sensors.
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: “Hydrothermal Vents and Ocean Chemistry” – How do hydrothermal vents influence the chemistry of the deep ocean, and potentially help regulate Earth’s climate? Summer project will measure radium isotopes in samples collected from two cruises near hydrothermal vents of the southern East Pacific Rise. The student will measure radium isotopes via their radon decay products; project will provide experience in various radiochemical techniques, data reduction, and data interpretation using other measurements collected on the cruises. More on the Coastal Groundwater Geochemistry Lab here.
Anna Michel
Mentors and Lab: Dr. Anna Michel
Institution/Department: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering
Research Interests: Understanding of ocean chemistry and its role in the current age where human activity is significantly impacting climate, environment, and ocean health. My research focuses on the development of in situ optical sensors to achieve this goal.
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: Lab is interested in developing new chemical sensing technologies for making measurements in the ocean and Arctic. We develop new sensors for gas sensing in the deep sea to coastal environments. Recently, we have also begun to explore our ability to make measurements of marine debris. Our lab is diverse with students interested in environmental chemistry, physics, computer science and engineering.
Adam Subhas
Mentors and Lab: Dr. Adam Subhas
Institution/Department: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry
Research Interests: all of the organisms that grow calcium carbonate shells in the ocean, and their relationship to the marine carbon and alkalinity cycles
Potential 2020 Undergraduate Projects: Lab is interested in on global solutions to the CO2 emissions crisis – 2020 summer project will examine the biological and chemical consequences to adding alkalinity to the ocean as a carbon sequestration strategy. Project will involve seawater incubations, measurements of seawater inorganic carbon and alkalinity content, carbon isotopes, and biological community composition via flow cytometry. Student need not be familiar with all (or any) of these techniques at the beginning of the summer. Learn more here.