Current opportunities at UAF

Are you faculty looking for undergraduate students to work on your project?

If you are a faculty member or graduate student with a project and you are seeking undergraduates, please let us know so we can share your opportunity. We will post your project on this page as well as email our students.


Please check back often!
New listings are posted when received. Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member.

 

DBF group

Contact: Randy Fulweber
Toolik Field Station GIS & Remote Sensing Manager
rafulweber@alaska.edu
(907) 474-5310

The Toolik Field Station GIS & Remote Sensing Dept. is looking for an intrepid undergraduate student to join our field team for this entire summer. As our summer technician, you’ll work out of the largest field station in the Arctic, alongside staff members to contribute to our research support activities. You will: 1) fly our drones to collect/process multispectral imagery, 2) create 3D terrain models & vegetation maps, 3) Collect/process high-accuracy dGPS data (RTK & PPK survey styles), 4) Collect/process bathymetric data to create 3D lake models.

This is a predominantly outdoor position that requires the ability to backpack (<=50lbs) across tussock tundra.

Prerequisites: Some prior GIS and/or Remote Sensing (satellite or drone) experience or course work would be great, but we're happy to train any dedicated, hardworking student.

Time Committment: Length of term is for the entire summer working out of Toolik Field Station (approx. 2.5 hours south of Prudhoe Bay). There will be a couple of opportunities to take breaks and leave the station to return to Fairbanks. We work 6 days a week, so there will be overtime work (more than 40 hrs/wk) and overtime pay.

Pay: Pay for our undergraduate technicians is dependent on experience, starting around $16/hr. There will be overtime work and overtime pay. There may also be an end-of-season performance bonus. Meals & lodging while at the field station are provided. Transportation between Fairbanks and the field station is also provided.

Contact: Darcy Dugan
Alaska Ocean Acidification Network Director
Email: dugan@aoos.org

The Alaska Ocean Acidification Network, with UAF's Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA),  is planning to make a Storymap on ocean acidification in Alaska following the lines of what was presented and discussed at an Ocean Acidification Spring Discussion Series earlier this year. The student in this position would gain real world GIS skills working with a local GIS mentor and AOOS staff. 

Examples of Similar Projects:


Funding: There is no current funding for this project currently, but would be a great fit for an URSA Summer 2023 Student Project Award! students who are interested may contact the AOOS contact listed above or Jen Delamere, Director of GINA (jsdelamere@alaska.edu) for more information and mentorship inquiries. 

Contact: Michael Roddewig
Assistant Professor, Geophysical Institute
Phone:
907-474-5936
Email:
mrroddewig@alaska.edu

A potential opportunity for undergraduates to participate in Air Force lidar development, upper atmospheric lidar development, and field work/development of an airborne fisheries lidar. These are separate projects, however, an interested student with sufficient time could potentially participate in more than one.

Currently, my main need is for software development in C and C# .NET. However, the interested student could also participate in telescope/optical design, data collection in the field, and circuit design and fabrication.

The Air Force project is working on the development of a state-of-the-art frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) lidar. The lidar system is located in Montana, however, I am providing software development assistance to the project from Alaska. The student would be exposed to high-speed data processing using the NVIDIA CUDA framework and a multi-threaded DSP application. Software is written in C for a Windows platform.

The upper atmosphere lidar is a novel iron lidar system we are developing for deployment at HAARP. I am responsible for the software development for this lidar. Current need is for a student to assist with understanding and documenting inherited code written in C for a linux platform and then porting this application to work new hardware. Opportunities also exist for the student to to work with high-power lasers, design and assembly of the instrument, and optical assembly.

Finally, the airborne fisheries lidar system is a system I built and deployed at Montana State. The software base for this lidar, written in C and C# .NET for a Windows platform, needs to be updated to work with new hardware. There is also travel with this project as this lidar is being flown in the Great Lakes in April and operated from a boat in Montana this summer.

Position Details:

  • Prerequisites: My main prerequisite is a willingness to learn. I also expect a commitment to spend time in the lab and work independently, with supervision as required. Previous programming experience in some language would be helpful, as there would be a large learning curve without it.
  • Time Committment: 10 hours per week during the semester, full time (40 hours per week) during the summer. These projects are on-going multi-year efforts and I would prefer students who plan to work for multiple years, especially during the summer.
  • Pay?: These are paid positions. Funding does exist on the projects, however, I would prefer we seek funding through URSA and Alaska Space Grant. Contact is open to URSA mentoring for project funding.
  • Deadline to Contact: Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Contact: Jakir Hasan
Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension (IANRE)
Phone: 907-474-6418
Email: mjhasan@alaska.edu

Dr. Jakir Hasan is looking for two highly motivated students to work, learn and contribute to the small grain crops breeding program for Alaska. Students will help with the planning and organizing of small plot nurseries and variety performance trials for spring wheat, barley, oats and canola, data curation and gain skills in plant breeding and selection process. 

Positions open to all student levels (Freshman through Senior standing). 

Prerequisites: Introductory Biology, Botany or Genetics

Position Details:

  • Start date: May 1, 2023
  • End date: Aug 30, 2023 (End date may extend to Sept 10, 2023)
  • Time Committment: Full-time (40 hr/week) (Occasionally may need to work overtime, particularly during planting and harvesting)
  • Rate of Pay: $15.00/ hour

*Contact is willing to mentor students seeking URSA project funding for Summer 2023.*

 

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: April 30, 2023

Contact: Simon Zwieback
Faculty, Geosciences
Email: szwieback@alaska.edu

Contact: Tristan Goers
GIS Technician | Digital Services | Fairbanks North Star Borough
Email: tristan.goers@fnsb.gov
Phone:  (907) 459-1477

The Fairbanks North Star Borough is offering an internship opportunity georeferencing imagery for course credit to an undergraduate student. This opportunity involves mosaicking and georeferencing scanned historical imagery of the FNSB and may also involve scripting. This work will be completed over the 2022 spring semester with the final deliverables being (1) georeferenced image tiles, (2) a georeferenced, mosaicked, image, and (3) an image tile index. The final product will be an invaluable resource not only for the Fairbanks North Star Borough but also the public at-large. You will be expected to give, at a minimum, weekly progress reports detailing the work completed, any challenges encountered, and any questions you may have.

Prerequisite: Prior exposure to remote sensing or GIS

Pay: This could be a paid internship, an unpaid project for credit, or both.
Please reach out to us to discuss further details.

Benefits: Valuable real-world experience and skills that are in great demand on the job market.

Deadline to Apply: April 30, 2023

Contact: Kelly Drew
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, 2023 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, 2023

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

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*: 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: Steffi Ickert-Bond

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

Dr. Ickert-Bond is looking for three highly motivated students to work with plant taxonomy and contribute to the development of the new Flora of Alaska. Students will help with taxonomic detective work, data curation, and gain skills in biodiversity informatics. Opportunities start with one semester and may available for up to three years.

Students may be any year of study and will earn $12/hour. The call for this position will be on UAF job site soon. https://alaska.edu/jobs/
 
 
Deadline to Apply: Summer 2023

 

Contact: Thomas Kelly
Phone: 774-238-0779
Email: tbkelly@alaska.edu

Looking for four students (Freshman-Senior standing).

Alaska's marine resources are among our most valuable for in both commercial and cultural value. With AMDOC we seek to better understand the marine environment use state of the art satellite tools. First, we will merge field data with satellites to provide better estimates of biomass and productivity in Alaskan waters. Next, our improved measurements will be integrated into fishery forecasting models to allow for more accurate predictions and new insights into how fisheries (and the ecosystem) are changing. 

Prerequisites: A passion to learn new skills and share the results of the work with peers and the Alaskan public. Familiarity to computers and excel would be helpful, but everything can be learned "on the job."

Time Committment: Hours, duration, and starting dates are completely flexible. Opportunities for at-sea field work are available as well to committed students.

Funding: Paid fellowship opportunities are available.

Mentorship Opportunities: Yes, mentorship for URSA projects available.

Deadline to contact: September 30, 2023

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

 
Upper level (juniors/seniors) undergraduates can apply to work with one of the following research lines:

1) Lidar remote sensing studies of microphysical properties of aerosols and clouds
In this research line we are working on applications of a newly developed Full Stokes Lidar. Applications to Clouds and Aerosols.
This research will be partially in the laboratory to set up the lidar receiver and perform lidar observations and, partially dedicated to run scattering codes to analyze field observations. 
Students from Engineering, Physics or Applied Mathematics are encouraged to apply.
 
2) Lidar Remote Sensing - Polarimetry and Raman Spectroscopy 
This project is in the construction and calibration phase. The instrument is intended to demonstrate the feasibility to simultaneously determine the fractions of ice, liquid and water vapor in tropospheric aerosols and cloud layers by means of laser spectroscopy.
The research will be in laboratory helping on instrument construction and calibration as well as in running the first set of observations. 
Students from Engineering or Physics are encouraged to apply. 
 
3) Chemical speciation and microphysical characteristics of volcanic ashes and Alaskan pollen by means of Laser Raman Spectroscopy and FT-IR microspectroscopy
This research is to help in the determination of chemical species of volcanic ashes and Alaskan pollen through spectroscopic techniques. 
The student will run samples in the lab and then determine the chemical composition based on multiparametric non-linear fitting code developed in  Matlab. 
Students from Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry and Engineering, Physics and Applied Mathematics are encouraged to apply. 
 
4) Changes in biogeochemical functions in boreal forest associated to extreme summer environmental conditions in high latitude
This research requires an analysis of large scale reanalysis data and in parallel determination of heat, moisture and carbon fluxes. 
Students from Biology, Ecology, Natural Resources and Physics are encouraged to apply.
 
5) Exploring new satellite remote sensing platforms for surface fluxes retrievals
This research entails processing new NASA and NOAA satellite remote sensing platforms and to explore the calculation of surface fluxes of heat and moisture. This effort has connections to Agricultural and hydrology research and to atmospheric sciences remote sensing and modeling cal/val. 
Students from Natural Resources, Engineering, Physics, etc. are encouraged to apply.

6) Use of CFD codes to compute aerodynamic performance in UAS systems 
Implementation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver oriented to unmanned aircraft systems development. CFD codes are used to numerically solve the fluid the around wings and aircraft body to compute lifting, drag and momentum in dynamic flying conditions and control. Familiarity with C language and Python is preferred.
Students from Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics and Physics are encourage to apply.

Contact: Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization
Phone: 907-474-2605
Email: uaf-oipc@alaska.edu 

OIPC welcomes applications from students interested in assisting with creating marketability reports for technologies owned by UAF.  Each report will analyze where a technology may fit in the market, assess the technology's stage of development, identify potential customers, and describe any work that must occur before delivering the technology to the market. This opportunity is open to students in the business, science, and engineering disciplines. Students will be expected to put in up to 60 hours of work; compensation of up to $750 is available.

UAF’s office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization (OIPC) works to identify university innovations, analyze such technologies for marketability and patentability, protect the technologies as intellectual property, and market and license the technologies for the benefit of the public, the university, and our community."
Contact: Falk Huettmann

Seeking 2 students, any year of study, willing to learn and work on GIS, climate and wildlife data.
This project provides opportunities for students to explore and work-up specific forestry and climate GIS data for birds and habitats in Interior Alaska.

Students will gain experience in learning geographic information systems (GIS, ArcGIS or QGIS), insights into landscape ecology, bird, habitat and climate management issues, and digital data skills for Alaska. Office space, hardware and software provided.

Experience required R skills would ideal, or at least a willingness to learn

Funding:  None provided. Students would need to seek funding from URSA Project application or find another source if they require funding. Project coordinator would help with the process. 

Deadline: Ongoing

Contact:  Richard Collins

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.