Spotlight on Summer Students

Every winter, we stop to recognize recent Summer Research Program students for the incredible strides they have made using their summer data.

Many students co-authored papers in 2013-2014 with their summer mentors:

• Jennie Sirota (REU '12) and mentors Aaron Ellison and Ben Baiser made a splash in the news with their paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: "Organic-matter loading determines regime shifts and alternative states in an aquatic ecosystem"
  
• Lindsay Day (REU student '11 and proctor '12) was lead author for a paper in Quaternary Research with mentor Wyatt Oswald: "Analysis of hemlock pollen size in Holocene lake sediments from New England"
  
• Emma Schnur (REU '12) was lead author for a paper in the Northern Journal of Applied Forestry with mentor David Kittredge: "A Comparative Analysis of Conservation Awareness among New York and Massachusetts Woodland Owners" 
  
• Michael Marquis (REU '11) was lead author for a paper in Ecology with Israel Del Toro (REU '08, now an REU mentor) and mentor Shannon Pelini: "Insect mutualisms buffer warming effects on multiple trophic levels"
• Bridget Darby and Elizabeth Felts (both REU '11) co-authored a paper in Ecological Applications with mentor Andrew Richardson: "Tracking forest phenology and seasonal physiology using digital repeat photography: a critical assessment"
• Emma Snellings and Angélica Erazo-Oliveras (both REU '08) co-authored a paper with mentor David Kittredge in the Northern Journal of Applied Forestry: "It's the Network: How Personal Connections Shape Decisions about Private Forest Use"

Others blogged and delivered conference presentations:

• Christine Pardo (REU '13) won "best poster" at the Florida International Biology Symposium in Feb. 2014. In 2013, she organized a graduate school panel for FIU's biology undergraduates, and also founded an ecology club for the school.
• Angus Chen (REU '13) has written several terrific blog posts about Harvard Forest research for SciStarter.
• Faith Neff (REU '13) presented her summer results, "Construction of an Aerial Tram for Forest Regrowth Monitoring," at the 2013 American Geophysical Union (AGU) annual meeting in San Francisco. Deepa Rao (REU '11) presented her summer work at AGU in 2012, and blogged about the experience.
• Courtney Maloney (REU '12) and Yvan (REU '12) have both received travel awards to attend the Emerging Researchers National Conference in Washington DC in February 2013. The conference helps undergraduate and graduate students to enhance their science communication skills and to better prepare for science careers in a global workforce. See past news of summer program alumni. - See more at: /blog/spotlight-summer-students#sthash.LhBw68KI.dpuf
  Courtney Maloney (REU '12) and Yvan (REU '12) have both received travel awards to attend the Emerging Researchers National Conference in Washington DC in February 2013. The conference helps undergraduate and graduate students to enhance their science communication skills and to better prepare for science careers in a global workforce. See past news of summer program alumni. - See more at: /blog/spotlight-summer-students#sthash.LhBw68KI.dpuf
  Maloney (REU '12) and Yvan (REU '12) have both received travel awards to attend the Emerging Researchers National Conference in Washington DC in February 2013. - See more at: /blog/spotlight-summer-students#sthash.LhBw68KI.dpuf
  Courtney Maloney (REU '12) and Yvan (REU '12) both received travel awards to attend the Emerging Researchers National Conference in Washington DC in winter 2013. The conference helps undergraduate and graduate students to enhance their science communication skills and to better prepare for science careers in a global workforce.

Several 2013 students have had their summer research featured by their home university's press office:

• Arline Gould and Justin Vendettuoli at the University of Rhode Island
• Hannah Weisner at Macalester College
• James Leitner at the University of Delaware
• Faith Neff at Humboldt State University
• Angus Chen at Oberlin College

Congratulations to all! Keep up the fantastic work!

See past summer student news.