Contact: Dr. Javier Fochessato
Phone: 907-474-7602
317 Akasofu Building
Email: gjfochessato@alaska.edu

Contact:  Uma Bhatt 
Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
Email: usbhatt@alaska.edu

Are you interested in mining big data to investigate Alaska/Arctic climate or fire weather and sea ice seasonal forecasts? Do you like to make plots to explain the story that climate data tells? Contact Dr. Bhatt to learn more about potential projects related to high-latitude climate processes.

* Still accepting undegraduate students as of Fall 2021, please contact us if interested!

Contact:  William Howard
Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry
Email: wahoward@alaska.edu
Phone: (907) 474-6019 

We are looking for one undergraduate student to work on the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of water-soluble zirconium complexes having biologically relevant ligands. With some hard work, I think we can accomplish enough results in the 2020-2021 academic year to publish a peer-reviewed journal article. The student will be a co-author on the paper.

The student must have a love for chemistry and an interest in the role that metals play in human biochemistry and physiology. This position is for the 2020-2021 academic year, longer if the student wishes to do so.

We do not have funding, but encourage the student to seek funding from URSA, BLaST, or INBRE.

Deadline to Apply*: Sunday, February 28, 2021 
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Contact: Simon Zwieback
Professor Geosciences
Phone: (907) 474-5549
Email: szwieback@alaska.edu

The project seeks to identify permafrost terrain that may become unstable in the coming decades. It combines fieldwork on the North Slope, soil analysis in the lab, and remote sensing.

You will collect field measurements under supervision of experienced researchers. Laboratory work will include sample preparation and analysis, and data compilation. Remote sensing analyses may comprise processing and classification of multispectral and radar remote sensing imagery, and predictive modeling using machine learning.

How long: 10 to 20 h / week during the semester, up to 40 h / week in summer.

Pay?
Yes. Salary is negotiable.

Other benefits?
Gain field experience in Northern Alaska, potential for research-based credits.

Deadline to Apply*: December 20, 2021 
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Contact: Elisabeth Nadin
enadin@alaska.edu
474-5181

I would like to create online tools for teaching field geology. Primarily I have in mind using Minecraft, but I also want to tap into the apps that incoming college students are using regularly. I was thinking of starting with imagery that we already have, particularly of the permafrost tunnel or of sites outside of Alaska that have 3D imagery already.

Prerequisite: Comfort with building virtual worlds is a plus.

Timeline: Minimum 4 months, maximum 7 months (but I am open for longer if students are interested in continuing.)

Benefit: Credit for independent study or undergraduate research.

Deadline to Apply*: Wednesday, December 15, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Contact: Elaine Drew
Email: emdrew@alaska.edu.
(Due to COVID-19, I am not in the lab everyday to answer the phone, so email is the best way to reach me.)

Hello students! Do you want to learn more about social and behavioral health sciences research? If you do - read on!

My name is Dr. Elaine Drew and I have worked with many undergraduate students on research projects examining culture, physical activity, and wellbeing. One of our research sites is the Student Recreation Center (SRC) on campus.
For example, in one recent project, we developed and conducted a survey to learn more about patterns of recreational gym use and experiences with symptoms of seasonal depression. In another project, we conducted participant observation, interviews, and a survey to examine how and why people use different spaces within the gym. If these topics are of interest to you, please contact me to learn more!

Prerequisite: The only prerequisite is a passion for learning about beliefs and behaviors related to human health (broadly defined).

Timeline: To get the most out of the experience, a one-year commitment is preferable.

Benefits include access to the Medical Anthropology Lab in room 407 Bunnell. This lab is designed to facilitate small group instruction, mixed-methods research, and anthropometric procedures. The lab has several computer workstations for students and a variety of equipment for lab use and/or check out, including: a Marantz Professional PMD660 portable solid state audio recorder, numerous Tascam DR-05 digital voice recorders (carry cases and accessories), transcription kits, high quality headphones for transcription, a portable stadiometer height-rod, and a Tanita SC-240 Total Body Composition Analyzer.
The computers in the lab provide access to a variety of software programs, including Atlas.ti (for qualitative data analysis), Remark Office OMR (for creating surveys, tests, assessments and evaluations), and Tanita HealthWare software (for recording, tracking, and analyzing body weight, body water, body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat rating, bone mass, BMI, and more).

I am happy to provide you with the names and emails of students I have worked with, so that you can get their perspectives on what it is like to work with me!

Deadline to apply*: Friday, December 30, 2022
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Contact: Mel Durrett
IAB Greenhouse
Email: msdurrett@alaska.edu
Phone: 907-474-5792

Are you concerned that Alaska only produces ~5% of its food supply? Do you prefer to eat fresh, local food? Do you enjoy gardening or keeping houseplants? Get involved with the Ester Seed Library Revitalization project, supported by an URSA Community Engaged Learning Award.

With your help, the Ester seed library will start many seedlings in the IAB Greenhouse to be planted at the Ester library, park, and other local gardens this summer. Seeds from these plants will eventually be harvested to revitalize the library’s seed stock, contributing directly to local food security and food sovereignty. You will learn the basics of how a seed library works, as well as growing many different kinds of plants from seed. You will get dirty! You will also be introduced to the local agricultural community—including non-profits, farmers, gardening groups, and greenhouses.

Prerequisites: 2.3 GPA, enrolled in 6 credits in spring 2022

Timeline: 4-6 hrs/wk, spring semester with possibility to continue

Pay: No salary is available, but supplies for this project are covered by the URSA CEL Award. Opportunity to apply for funding, I will mentor any student that wants to develop a research project in the IAB Greenhouse and seek their own funding.

Benefits: Free membership to the seed library - take home seeds and plant starts for your own garden. Contacts in the local agricultural community. Priority consideration for paying jobs in the greenhouse and potential for future research projects.

Deadline to Apply*:  December 11, 2021 - APPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, so we can hit the ground running in the spring!
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Contact: Sarah Stanley
Faculty in English Department
Email: sstanley2@alaska.edu
Phone: (907) 750-8978

Looking for 7 undergraduate students registered for the 2021-2022 academic year.

This opportunity connects you to the Learning Inside Out Network. The Learning Inside Out Network supports education and creative collaboration between people who are inside and outside of Alaska’s jails and prisons. As a grassroots group, we catalyze community wellness projects and advocate for individuals and families affected by incarceration.

The Inside Out Story Lab creates data stories (animated visualizations) for the non-profit Short Edition through a global network of short story dispensers. Short Edition has over 300 of these dispensers providing stories every day at a push of a button. The dispensers are located on five different continents and they are at train stations, hospitals, libraries, universities, and soon we hope prisons and jails.

Researchers in this lab will work in teams to provide a "story of a story" to an author published through Short Edition and whose story circulates through the dispensers. Each project in the lab is an opportunity to learn how to work with heat map data, be creative collaboratively, and grow the power of a story.

Prerequisites: None

Time commitment: 2 months

Pay: No, but we can mentor anyone who might want to advocate for their own funding through URSA opportunities.

Benefits:

• Basic statistics in data visualizations
• Managing international, multilingual relationships
• Collaborating on a creative project
• Designing a research question

Deadline to Apply*: Friday, June 30, 2023
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline. 

Contact: Hannah Myers
Graduate Student in Marine Biology
Email: hmyers8@alaska.edu
Phone: (509) 496-2185

Looking for 2 undergraduate students registered for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Students interested in this project will have the opportunity to design their own project studying the ecology and vocal behavior of killer whales that live in the Gulf of Alaska using passive acoustic monitoring techniques. We have collected a nearly five-year acoustic data set from hydrophones located in Kachemak Bay, Kenai Fjords, and Prince William Sound. Preliminary findings from this research have provided insight into the year-round spatiotemporal distribution and residency times for the three killer whale populations that commonly inhabit these areas.
This data set can also be used to answer questions regarding killer whale vocal behavior, social interactions, habitat use, and temporal abundance patterns. For example, which specific calls does a killer whale pod use most often? Does this change in the presence of other pods? Are killer whales detected most often during the day or night, or do their detection patterns correlate with tidal cycles? Students will be encouraged to design a project tailored to their interests.
Additionally, passive acoustic monitoring is a rapidly advancing technology with broad applications in marine and terrestrial biology. Students will learn about passive acoustic monitoring methodology and uses through direct experience.
Students with an interest in machine learning may have an opportunity to apply such algorithms to automatically identify whale calls.

Prerequisites:
Students with a background in biology and/or marine science are preferred; however, interested students from other disciplines will be considered. For example, computer science students may be interested in developing and applying machine learning methodologies to identify whale vocalizations. A focused and meticulous work ethic is necessary when working with passive acoustic monitoring data. Students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM disciplines are particularly encouraged to apply.

Time commitment: 
Students who are able to commit to this project for more than one semester are preferred. This project would be appropriate for a senior capstone research project.

Pay:
Funding has not yet been secured to pay undergraduate researchers, but the mentor will work with interested students to prepare applications to URSA, BLaST, etc. to secure funding.

Benefits:
Students will be assisted with developing poster and/or oral presentations describing their findings and in identifying appropriate communications outlets to share their work. Students who are dedicated to this project and are interested in learning more about other killer whale research methods can be connected with a local non-governmental research organization to pursue potential internship opportunities. Other professional development opportunities will be supported as they arise.

Other information:
Opportunities to conduct independent research on cetaceans, particularly killer whales, as an undergraduate student are rare. This is an exceptional opportunity to delve into questions of interest to the student using a well-developed data set and methods, with the potential for meaningful results to be uncovered within a relatively short timeframe. Passive acoustic monitoring research requires focus, dedication, and attention to detail and students working on this project will be expected to display independent motivation.

Deadline to Apply*: Friday, October 15, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Contact: Falk Huetmann
Professor Biology and Wildlife
Phone:  (907) 474-7882
Email: fhuettmann@alaska.edu

Lookinf for 2 undergraduate students

The boreal forest is one of the largest forests in the world, but its specific age classes are not so well known, mapped and described.
This study makes use of existing geographic information system (GIS) maps, Google Earth and Remote Sensing imagery, databases and ground-truthing to look at old-growth forest trees, stands, forest patches and the wider ecosystem components.

This is a great opportunity to learn and to apply many methods in the field and linked with computing and 'The Cloud'.

Pay:
Not yet, but potential funding options exist to be applied for.

Benefits:
Get familiar with the boreal forest and its age structure, data and governance. Those are leading topics in forestry and landscape ecology worldwide.

Deadline to Apply*: May 5, 2022
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Contact: Mario Muscarella
Email: memuscarella@alaska.edu
Phone: (907) 474 7955

Opportunities exist in the Muscarella Lab for 1-2 students interested in learning microbiology and contributing to lab experiments for calculating the energetic requirements of diverse bacteria. Students will help maintain a system of continuous cultures (chemostats) at a range of temperatures and dilution rates. Students will help setup and maintain experiments, collect and interpret data, and will have the potential to contribute to the preparation of research publications.

Students will learn aseptic techniques for safely handling microorganisms and how to maintain long term cultures. They will use basic chemistry to prepare solution and culture media, as well as have the ability to extract DNA and sequence genomes.

Looking for students interested in working 10-20 hrs per week for the semester with the option of continuation. 
Funding is available to pay students $10.50/hr

Prerequisites:
None, students will be fully trained in all techniques 

Deadline to Apply*: Tuesday, December 1, 2020 
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline. 

Contact:  Cheng-fu Chen
Professor in Mechanical Engineering
Email: cchen4@alaska.edu

We are looking for 1-2 undergraduate researchers to work with graduate students on the development, testing, and characterization of the procedures for coating organic polystyrene to the metallic surface by air plasma.

Prerequisites:

1. Complete the needed lab safety training
2. Fundamental knowledge about polymers
3. Chemistry lab experience (e.g. through class lab sessions) is preferred
4. Show passions for exploratory research
5. Be available until 7/31/2021

Benefits :

1. Potential co-authorship of journal publications
2. Potential hiring through future funding
3. Expedite the process toward an MS degree

Deadline to Apply*:  April 30, 2022
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Contact:  Michael Stekoll
Phone: (907) 723-0058
Email: msstekol@alaska.edu

Tamsen Peeples
Phone: (907) 723-1256
Email: tnpeeples@alaska.edu 

We are looking for 2 students to assist a graduate student in a lab and conduct field work studying seaweed physiological ecology and mariculture. Some duties would be analyzing water samples for nutrients, data entry, microscopy quantification work, working with cultures of seaweeds, assisting with sampling at field sites

Prerequisite: 
Student must be located in Juneau, AK. Some background in biology and science laboratory would be helpful.

How long?
Minimum would be one semester for at least 10 hours/week. We would prefer for a student to stay longer. Maximum would be two years, including summer work 

Pay:
Stipend would be a normal undergraduate salary.

Benefits: 
Benefits would be gaining actual experience in a scientific lab and field setting. Such as: learning various lab and field techniques, working with a team, learning how to ask scientific questions and design meaningful experiments and gaining experience in data acquisition and analysis.

Deadline to Apply*: May 1, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline. 

Contact: KellyDrew
Professor IAB and Director for the Center of Transformative Research in Metabolism
Phone: 907-474-7190
Email: kdrew@alaska.edu

Looking for 3 undergraduate students

The Center for Transformative Research in Metabolism (TRiM) is recruiting for three undergraduate student positions to assist TRiM’s vet tech with surgical procedures being conducted as part of the Center’s research. This position provides training in biomedical research using laboratory animals and will improve the student's resume and biomedical research skills.

The Center for TRiM builds on a 60-year legacy of research in hibernation conducted by the Institute of Arctic Biology by bringing together existing research activities related to hibernation and metabolism in order to increase understanding about human metabolic health, address metabolic diseases to promote healthy aging, and reduce the burden of metabolic disease and trauma. Our long-term goal is to translate hibernation science platforms towards treatments that will reduce the incidence of chronic diseases related to metabolic health such as Type 2 diabetes, disuse muscle atrophy, sarcopenia, cardiovascular disease, and brain health disorders associated with vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. TRiM's vision, mission, and values guides the Center's research mission and interpersonal relations emphasizing ethical conduct, respect for diversity, and empowerment. Please see TRiM's website at https://trimalaska.com/ for more details.

Prerequisites: A willingness to learn, interested in biomedical research, being detail-oriented, and dependable on the job. Courses in biology and/or chemistry are preferred. The position is located at UAF.

Position timeline: Until June 30, 2022 with a possible extension, pending funding availability and job performance.

Pay? Yes, $10.50/hour for up to 20 hours/week or 10-20 hours/week with flexibility.

Benefits: Flexible work schedule and the opportunity to learn biomedical research skills using laboratory animals.

Deadline to Apply*: May 15, 2022
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.

Associate Professor of Botany and Curator of the Herbarium (ALA), UA Museum
Phone: 907-474-6277 (office)
Email: smickertbond@alaska.edu

Campbell Webb
Phone: 907-474-7109
Email: cowebb@alaska.edu

Contact: Michael Hatfield
Professor CEM/ECE & GI/ACUASI
Phone: (907) 987-2610
Email: mchatfield@alaska.edu

If you are interested in projects relating to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or other Aerospace Engineering topics, please contact me. We have several possible areas of study and are always in need of motivated students.

Engineering and technical majors are generally the most commonly employed, but we can use students from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. The most important qualifications are a desire to learn and motivation to apply that knowledge for the betterment of all.

How Long?
Projects are generally a semester (or summer) in length, but can be longer in some cases. These may be aligned with a particular aerospace-related course (eg, ECE or ME senior design) or may be individual projects.

Pay?
Students are encouraged to apply for funding through various entities supporting undergraduate research and aerospace programs (eg, USRA, Alaska Space Grant Program...). In some cases where the project aligns with a high-priority need of the university, additional funding may be secured.

Other benefits?
Students taking on approved projects may use their experiences as direct inputs for their work resumes. I am willing to mentor students on how to craft these resume materials, and to provide recommendations for jobs and advanced education opportunities.

Deadline to Apply*: July 1, 2022
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline. 

Contact: Will Burt
Assistant Professor - Department of Oceanography
Email: wburt2@alaska.edu
Phone: 907-378-6024

Recently, our lab purchased the components and built an autonomous water sampling system and deployed it on the UAF-operated world-class icebreaker R/V Sikuliaq. This system functioned well, but to achieve optimal operation, the system needs significant improvements.

Such improvements include:
a) Making the system more compact to increase portability and use of other vessels.
b) Submerging our primary instrument within an enclosed water-bath to improve performance.
c) Adding additional 'clean water' supply ports to improve calibration techniques.
d) Generally improve the system's wiring/electronics.

We are looking for a technically-skilled undergraduate students (e.g. an engineering student) to assist our group in building and testing these system components. The student would work alongside myself and my graduate student in a CFOS workshop

The project could take anywhere between 2-4 months to complete, depending on how many hours/week were spent. 

Prerequisite: Technical skills in electronics, wood-working (including work with plexiglass), a background in science, and a keen interest in scientific applications for this type of work.

Pay: Without funding, I would be willing to fund the ideal candidate for some of all of the time needed to complete this project. To ensure enough funding was available to take the project to completion, I would hope to have URSA, BLaST or INBRE funding.

Benefits include:

• Learning various scientific applications of skilled technical work.
• A potential visit aboard R/V Sikuliaq to initially install the completed device.
• Meeting and working with various students and researchers in the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

Deadline to Apply*: Friday, December 31, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline. 

Professor of Atmospheric Science
Phone: (907) 474-7607
301 Akasofu Building
Email: rlcollins@alaska.edu

Undergraduates have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects addressing the weather and climate of the upper atmosphere. Students can work on experimental projects and observations associated with the Lidar Research Laboratory at Poker Flat Research Range (LRL-PFRR). Students can also work on analytical projects using datasets that have been acquired at LRL-PFRR.

Contact: William Howard
Professor Chemistry and Biochemistry
Phone: (907) 474-6019
Email: wahoward@alaska.edu

The student will carry out inorganic syntheses of amino acid complexes of zirconocene, using Schlenk techniques and an inert atmosphere glovebox. The student will isolate new chemical products and characterize the products by multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and by infrared spectroscopy. The aim of this project is to investigate the role of zirconocene in mediating or catalyzing peptide bond formation.

Ideally, the student should have taken chemistry courses at the 100 and 200 levels, but this is not strictly necessary. All laboratory training will be done by Prof. Howard.

How long would the student need to work with you? The student should work in the lab 3 to 6 hours per week.

Pay?  No, but the student will be encouraged to apply for funding through URSA, INBRE, or BLaST.

If you do not have funding, are you willing to mentor the student if they apply to URSA, BLaST for INBRE for funding?  Yes.

Benefits: Yes. If the student is willing and if funds are available, the student will be encouraged to present his or her results in a research poster in a scientific conference. Prof. Howard will help the student to prepare the research poster.

Other info: This research is likely to lead to a peer-reviewed publication with the student listed as a co-author.
 

Deadline to Apply*: Monday, May 31, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some projects may extend past the deadline.