The University of Michigan Biological Station is seeking applicants for our summer 2025 undergraduate research program. This eight-week program pairs student fellows with UMBS science mentors for original research in field ecology. This opportunity will provide hands-on training and knowledge-building in analytical, applied field methods, data collection and management, and science communication skills.
Who We Are
The University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) has been home to scientific discovery since its founding in 1909. Our core mission is to serve as a gathering place to learn from the natural world, advance research and education, and inspire action. We leverage over a century of research and transformative experiences to drive discoveries and solutions to benefit Michigan and beyond.
Students and scientists live and work as a community to learn from nature and place at UMBS, which is one of the nation’s largest and longest continuously operating field research stations.
Located in Pellston, Michigan, laboratories, classrooms and cabins are tucked into more than 10,000 acres along Douglas Lake and Burt Lake to support long-term science research and education. Researchers have access to a diversity of ecosystems and natural communities.
Internship Summary
- This is a full-time, residential experience
- The program will run June 16 – August 8, 2025
- A stipend of $5,500, on-site housing and meals will be provided
- Research expenses will be covered
- Students may choose to enroll in two 3-credit UMBS Spring Term field courses (May 20 - June 19), while conducting research. Tuition will be covered by this fellowship.
- Fellows will participate in regular meetings with mentors, skill-building workshops and interact with other visiting researchers performing their own research projects at UMBS.
The range of intern projects is broad and focused on the natural systems and climate change. Student Fellows are encouraged to explore their own interests within the scope of the research program. Please indicate in your application statement if there are specific projects described below that you are particularly interested in exploring. You will be matched with a mentor and project after you are admitted.
To Apply:
Send the following materials in one file (.pdf) to umbsresearch@umich.edu:
- Resume or CV, including a list of relevant courses and research experience
- One-page statement on why you are interested in this opportunity, highlighting experience and specific research interests.
- Contact information for two academic or professional references.
Application materials are due by March 1, 2025, then on a rolling basis.
A Selection of Research Projects and Mentors
Disturbance forest ecology and carbon sequestration
Ariel Johnson & Chris Gough, Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University
Research Description: The Forest Resilience Threshold Experiment (FoRTE) investigates how varying levels of disturbance impact forest recovery, stability, and carbon dynamics. By simulating canopy damage by wood-boring insects and measuring responses like net primary production and soil respiration, the study aims to identify tipping points where forest systems shift from resilience to decline. The student fellow will learn how aboveground carbon, such as trees, is released into the atmosphere through processes of decomposition and respiration. Fellows will explore how these processes contribute to the carbon cycle and analyze how forest-varying levels of disturbance influence carbon dynamics over time.
Disease ecology
Annie Cress & Amanda Koltz, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin
Research Description: Parasites can significantly impact host welfare by altering behavior, immunity, physiology, and energy demands, even in sublethal infections. However, the broader influence of parasites on overall host welfare, particularly in wild animals, remains poorly understood. This project investigates how parasite burden is associated with individual-level host welfare using white-footed deer mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and their helminth parasites as a model system. We will experimentally reduce parasite burden and examine its effects on host body condition, diet, microbiome, stress physiology, and behavior. By integrating multiple metrics of host welfare, this study will provide valuable insights into how sublethal infections shape the ecology and health of a widespread wild species. The student fellow will have opportunities to be trained in small mammal ecological research and to develop a project characterizing the resource availability and environmental conditions experienced by white-footed deer mice.
Forest ecosystem function and stability
Aadia Moseley-McCloud & Aimée Classen, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Research Description: The understory is a vital part of a forest ecosystem which can play a role in ecosystem function and stability. At UMBS, bracken fern, a common understory species, can make up close to 100% of the understory cover in some areas on the UMBS property and it is likely important in processes such as seedling establishment. This project will investigate how the density of a common understory species influences seedling productivity, understory plant diversity, and a suite of ecosystem functions. Student fellows will get experience setting up and maintaining a field experiment, processing data by weighing biomass and measuring seedlings, and curating data which includes the organization of collected data.
Community ecology and assembly in pitcher plants
Nichole Burroughs & Will Petry, Plant & Microbial Ecology, North Carolina State University
Research Description: When ecologically similar species arrive in the same habitat, what factors influence how communities are formed and how they persist? Sarracenia purpurea (purple pitcher plant) is an intriguing model to use for understanding the ecology of community assembly, as their pitcher-shaped leaves host a diverse assemblage of microbes and invertebrates that 'digest' drowned prey. The leaves begin as sterile habitat patches, and develop into multi-trophic food webs in weeks! Little is known about how these microbes make their journey from one pitcher leaf to the next, but specialist insects and wind are the main suspects we intend to investigate. Possible projects aimed at investigating how these communities are formed include:
- Collecting and observing different (non-biting) mosquito life stages, assessing their ability to serve as microbial vectors under varied circumstances.
- Developing isolation and culture methods for predatory rotifers (freshwater zooplankton) using different prey species and/or miniature bioreactors.
- Assessing trends in microbial community density in actively assembling vs established pitcher leaves in the field. Visit our lab website to learn more about the questions we hope to answer!
Microbial ecology and global climate change
Ella Segal & Stephanie Kivlin, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Research Description: As climate change progresses, plants are broadly expected to shift their ranges poleward. It is not clear, however, how plants' interactions with different mycorrhizal fungal communities will affect their abilities to take up water and nutrients to establish, grow, and survive under novel and historic environmental conditions. To get to the bottom of these questions, We are implementing a common garden experiment this summer in which multiple populations of ~6 native tree species will be grown with mycorrhizal fungal communities sourced from southern and northern parts of eastern temperate forest and planted in common gardens in northern Michigan (at UMBS) or east Tennessee. Throughout our experiment, we will monitor mycorrhizal fungal community turnover and plant growth and survival. Student fellows will assist in garden measurements and maintenance and would learn about how mycorrhizal fungi will interact with plant populations to affect plants' abilities to shift their ranges in natural and assisted migrations.
Wild rice restoration
Shane Lishawa, School of Environmental Sustainability, Loyola University Chicago
Research Description: Manoomin (wild rice; Zizania palustris) is native to the rivers and lakes of northern Michigan where it has long provided food for wildlife and people and vital habitat for aquatic organisms and is a sacred medicine and food integral to the culture of the Anishinaabeg peoples. Changes in the landscape have led to Manoomin's precipitous decline over the last 200 years. Despite the plant’s cultural and ecological importance, much uncertainty still exists about the environmental conditions under which it can be planted and sustained. In partnership with Loyola researchers and tribal natural resource managers from northern Michigan, a student working on this project would conduct a study investigating the environmental tolerances of Manoomin, focusing on its germination, growth, floral production, and seed production.
Climate change, grasshopper herbivory and spider predation
Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal, Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont
Research description: Are you passionate about ecology, climate change, and fieldwork? Join our team in a groundbreaking study exploring how climate change, grasshopper herbivory, and predation by spiders interact to shape plant communities and ecosystem processes. This project examines the impacts of reduced precipitation on plant biomass, species richness, and functional traits, the role of grasshopper herbivory in mediating these effects, and the cascading influence of spider predation on grasshopper decomposition and nutrient cycling. Through experimental manipulations in an old-field ecosystem, you will gain hands-on experience conducting fieldwork, managing experimental plots, measuring plant diversity and functional traits, and studying interactions between herbivory, predation, and environmental change. This opportunity provides practical training in experimental design and ecological monitoring, collaboration with a team of dedicated scientists, and a chance to contribute to impactful research addressing global change challenges.
Ecological Companion to “Naajimiijimedaa (Let’s Find Food!)”
Eva Roos and Lauren Gwin, Department of English Language and Literature, University of Michigan
Research Description: The research goal of this project is to produce a companion document to the Cheboiganing Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ newest publication “Naajimiijimedaa! (Let’s Find Food!)” by Kathy Kae. This foraging book provides recipes, stories, and nutritional information on traditional foods including plants, animals, and fungi. Student researchers are developing a written document that serves as an ecological companion to this book, which includes expanded profiles for each plant or animal. Students are gathering data on each being’s associated natural communities, ecology, human-plant/animal relationships, statewide distribution, and additional Indigenous cultural significance. Students' research will/can involve analysis of texts, interviews with knowledge holders, field visits to photograph natural communities associated with plants/animals, meeting with tribal members locally, and drafting the ecological companion written document.
