I’m an evolutionary ecologist, and I use data from the Janzen Lab’s long-term field study of painted turtles to examine how species will adapt to a rapidly changing climate. A student working with me could investigate how parental behavior and/or incubation environment influence the development of hatchling turtles.  I’m also keen to work with a student to design a project that suits their research interests.  

The Janzen Lab’s summer research involves a substantial field component, with most of June spent camping at our field site in Illinois. An REU in our lab would have the opportunity to learn a variety of field skills and collaborate with other lab members. However, I am also interested in theoretical evolutionary biology and would be happy to work on a computational project with an enthusiastic student.

A student working with me this summer will help with greenhouse experiments and wetland field work, as well as design (with guidance) their own project: possible topics include insect symbionts of pitcher plants (greenhouse work), insect behavior of pitcher plant capture (greenhouse, lab), or herbivory on pitcher plants (bog fieldwork).

One of my lines of research is part of a collective lab project, and is looking at how the flowers of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana evolve in wild populations. We will be growing Arabidopsis from various populations of origin in growth chambers next summer; an REU working with me will have the option of helping us grow these plants, measuring a bunch of their traits, and potentially analyzing the trait data they find most interesting for their own independent project.

My other line of research is focused on whether and how the separate traits of organisms function, vary, and evolve in synchrony. As an example of what an REU might do, last year my REU did work related to this project by finding some populations of common plant species in the KBS area, measuring morphological traits of a bunch of individuals in those populations, and looking for patterns in how those traits tended to correlate with each other differently in different species.

I am interested in understanding how we incorporate wildlife habitat in working lands (like farms), while balancing the needs of farmers and society.

Potential projects for a summer REU would focus on the behavior and ecology of butterflies and/or birds in prairie habitat in and around agricultural land. This will likely entail working outside most days, and possibly early in the morning (if surveying birds). I am looking forward to helping an REU create a project that is interesting to them, and allows them to gain field and research experience!

I am broadly interested in how species traits can be used to understand community structure in both constant and fluctuating environments. I am also interested in testing theory with long-term ecological datasets from a variety of systems (mainly phytoplankton and terrestrial plants).

A potential student would ideally have strong programming skills in any language. A student with a strong mathematics background is preferred, but not necessary.

Here are some examples of questions you might work on: 1) How do species abundance distributions depend on seasonal fluctuations? 2) How do species' trait distributions change along nutrient gradients? 3) How can species traits be used to understand long term successional trajectories? Of course, these are only suggestions, and I would be open to any project that I can help with.

1. How do painted turtles behaviorally respond to different forms of simulated predation?

2. Do turtles with different personalities make different nesting choices?

3. Do male and female turtles have different personality types?

...but I am open to any project idea within this system that a student would be excited about.

Potential projects for REU students could be: 1) Comparing drought tolerance between epiphytic and terrestrial pitcher plants; 2) Exploring differences in photosynthesis between leaves and traps.

However, I would like to help an REU develop an original project of their own creation, which fits into the scope of photosynthetic response to stress or any project relating to carnivorous plant photosynthesis in general!

My research team investigates questions related to two major themes:

1) How can microbial metabolic capabilities be harnessed to correct, or proactively prevent, harm to natural ecosystems? and 2) As the Anthropocene progresses, how are we changing the ecology of microbial communities and processes through altered land use and climate change?

The student involved in this program will conduct a research project that bridges these two themes, investigating how microbial communities in prairies restored from agriculture contribute to soil carbon storage and soil health. We will design your project together, but it will involve both field and lab work. Having access to a vehicle and a valid driver's license are required, since you will travel between WMU and KBS.

In our lab, we have hundreds of recently isolated cyanobacteria strains from the Laurentian Great Lakes and from Lake Victoria (Africa)—the largest culture collection of Great Lakes cyanos! I am looking for students interested in freshwater ecology, cHABs, and in developing their lab skills. Students will develop their own research project; potential projects may involve measuring cyanobacterial traits, performing competition experiments, and testing methods for preserving cyanobacteria. However, I am happy to hear your ideas and research questions and help you design a way to test them.

This is a great opportunity for students interested in applied aspects of ecological theory!

Practical skills students working in our lab will develop include those involved in lake sampling, phytoplankton identification and culturing, microscopy, ecophysiological trait analyses, and running competition experiments. These are valuable not only for students considering graduate programs but also for those interested in environmental jobs related to water quality.

Our lab is interested in studying aquatic species' thermal tolerance and how thermal performance changes alongside other habitat characteristics (predation risk, resource availability, etc).

Broadly, I am interested in how simultaneous environmental stressors (related to climate change) alter organismal physiology, phenotypic plasticity, and community interactions. There are many questions we can ask regarding these ideas in combination with other ecosystem interactions. Similar questions (with adapted methods) can be asked for aquatic invertebrates or vertebrates coexisting in the same environments. In my own research, I have studied protists, microbiomes, amphibians, and macroinvertebrates.

A student working with me could investigate how aquatic species respond to temperature (in combination with), predation risk, resource availability, oxygen availability, and/or other aspects of habitat quality. These questions can be asked in the lab using environmental chambers, or even in the field with mesocosms or experimental ponds.

With a wide variety of treatment combinations and methods, there are plenty of opportunities to learn about good experimental design. I'm excited to help develop an idea that falls within a student's area of interest!

My research focuses on plant-insect interactions in the context of climate change and human activity. Study organisms over the past several years have included Cabbage White butterflies, Monarch butterflies, Clouded Sulphurs, Butterfly Milkweed, White Clover, and several types of Brassica plants.

Projects for 2024 have not yet been decided, but students can expect to work with butterflies, plants, warming chambers, agricultural insecticides, and/or structures that simulate drought.

An REU student in our lab will have the opportunity to learn how to measure mitochondrial function, which plays a central role in aging research. REU’s working in our lab must be comfortable working with animals, such as performing husbandry duties for snakes, and should also be comfortable working with blood (no experience needed! You would be trained in everything). 

Some potential research topics for a summer REU could be: 1) White blood cell differential counts; 2) cellular aging assays; 3) role in building a cell zoo (would learn cell culture). I am also open to developing a project with an REU that better fits their interests and career goals!

My research investigates how changes in the traits of agricultural weeds allow them to initially establish in agricultural environments. These trait changes can occur through two mechanisms: evolution, whereby favorable genes spread through the population; or plasticity, whereby organisms change their traits in different environments without any need for genetic change. My main project this summer will address the relative roles of evolution and plasticity in driving adaptation to crop fields using three species of common annual weeds sourced from regionally paired agricultural and non-agricultural environments, planted back into agricultural and non-agricultural environments at KBS.

The REUs working with me would assist with establishing a large field experiment (counting and sorting seeds, planting seeds, transplanting seedlings, watering) and would develop their own independent project within the scope of this main experiment, perhaps focusing on particular traits, a particular species, environmental measurements, or some other question of interest.