My experience at KBS: Challenges and rewards in the lab, the classroom, and the field – Steven Neher (MSU, Plant Biology)

Waders half full, or half empty? – Sharon Carpenter (MSU, Fisheries & Wildlife)

My opportunity of a lifetime – Samantha Turner (MSU, Human Biology, DOW STEM Scholar)

To research or not to research? How I discovered my passion at KBS – Maiya Wimbley (MSU, Community Sustainability)

Murphy’s Law – Krista Nicholson (MSU, Animal and Environmental Science)

Mating Behavior in Treefrogs – Darian Mollock (North Carolina A&T)

A Star Crossed Love Affair Between a Pre-med Student and a Diatom – Olivia Porth (MSU, Human Bio)

10 cc’s of Experience, Stat! – Parker Anderson (MSU, Biomedical Lab Sciences)

Learning is a Contact Sport: A Summer at KBS – Wissam Jawad (MSU, Zoology)

My Summer as an URA at KBS – Ally Brown (MSU, Integrative Biology)

Expectations and Weekly Timeline of Program

KBS Code of Conduct

Dates:

This program is 11 weeks long and will run from May 16 – July 31, 2021 (students are expected to arrive on-site by 5 p.m. Sunday, May 16 and depart Saturday, July 31).

Hours:

URAs average 20+ hours/week on research. Hours are dependent on your KBS course load.  Specific work hours will be arranged with your research mentor.

Course Requirement:

As part of your learning experience you are required to enroll in a summer field course at KBS.  URAs are responsible for paying for the MSU tuition associated with their course(s). Please contact the MSU Office of Financial Aid if you will need summer financial aid.

Compensation:

Updates for 2021: 

It is likely that our dining hall will not be open. We are working to develop alternative options such as carry out lunch or a grocery stipend for students.

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• $3000 stipend + FULL room & board scholarship (which includes Breakfast: M-F, Lunch: M-F, Dinner: M-Th, Brunch: Sat-Sun)

Learning Plan and Professional Development:

All URA students work with their mentor to complete a Learning Plan, attend weekly professional development seminars, and will develop a professional blog post, and/or a professional poster presentation, abstract and “elevator speech” about their KBS research experience.

Posters should also be presented at the annual KBS Summer Undergraduate Symposium and MSU’s University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) during the following spring semester.

***Attendance of Professional Development seminars is required as part of the URA Program.

Conner Lab – KBS & MSU Dept. of Plant Biology: We study the mechanisms by which natural selection on weeds and native plants produces (sometimes very rapid) adaptation to a variable environment, and constraints on this adaptation. Our approach is to combine laboratory, greenhouse, and field studies integrating evolution, genetics, genomics, and ecology to address questions at the interface of these areas. Students working in our lab will be involved in research that focuses on floral adaptations to pollinators, floral trait loss after the evolution of selfing, fitness effects of gene knockouts, and rapid adaptation of weeds to agricultural environments.

Evans Lab – KBS & MSU Dept. of Integrative Biology:  Research in the Evans lab focuses on how microscopic organisms – bacteria, fungi, and archaea – function and respond to their environment. We are interested in how microbes respond to disturbances and stress, particularly factors associated with climate change such as increasing drought and unpredictable rainfall. Students working in our lab will be involved in both field and laboratory studies focusing on what factors alter the diversity of microbial communities and the important ecosystem functions that microbes carry out, like cycling nutrients and facilitating plant growth.

Fitzpatrick Lab – KBS & MSU Dept. of Integrative Biology: We are interested in fundamental and applied questions in evolution, ecology, and conservation biology. A primary focus of our research is on understanding how evolutionary and ecological processes lead to patterns of adaptation, fitness, and ultimately persistence in small populations. We work on organisms (mostly fish, but also amphibians, reptiles, and birds) in the wild and in the lab using field, experimental, and molecular approaches.

Haddad Lab – KBS & Dept of Integrative Biology: We study how landscape diversity in the Midwestern USA affects the diversity of species, primarily insects including butterflies, bees, ants, and beetles. Our work focuses on managed ecosystems from conventional agriculture to restored prairies and focuses on how landscape diversity, including planting prairie strips – small areas of restored prairie adjacent to agricultural fields – affects the diversity and abundance of insects in the agricultural fields and how theses ecosystems work. Students working in our lab will be involved in field research that addresses questions such as: How do different bees and butterflies affect pollination success? Do ants affect predation of pest species? How do beetles affect decomposition and nutrient cycling?

Janzen Lab – KBS and Dept. Fisheries & Wildlife: Research in our lab focuses on determining the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying adaptation to environmental variation in reptiles, particularly turtles. We are particularly interested in how environmental variation associated with climate change affects the ecology and evolution of these species and can be applied to support the conservation of these species. Students working in our lab, will learn how to integrate molecular and quantitative genetic techniques with experimental studies in the lab and field.

Klausmeier & Litchman Lab – KBS & MSU Depts. of Plant Biology & Integrative Biology: We study microbial, freshwater and marine phytoplankton ecology, using a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches such as analytical and simulation modeling, laboratory experiments, field sampling, and long-term and large-scale data analysis to answer fundamental questions about what determines community composition and species diversity and how ecological communities would re-organize under anthropogenic global change. Students working our labs will have the opportunity to conduct laboratory and field studies focused on determinants of community composition in algae and to learn how modeling can be an important tool in this process.

Lowry Lab – MSU Dept. of Plant Biology: Research in the Lowry lab is centered on identifying the genetic and genomic mechanisms of ecological adaptations and how those adaptations contribute to the formation of new species. Much of our work is with switchgrass, Panicum virgatum, a native species with widespread distribution in North American and an important potential bioenergy crop.  Students working in our lab will be involved in long-term field experiments established at KBS to determine the genetic basis of physiological traits associated with adaptation to productivity and adaptation to changing environmental factors.

Robertson Lab – KBS & MSU Dept. of Plant Soil & Microbial Science: Research in my lab broadly addresses issues of agricultural sustainability. We study the biogeochemistry and productivity of field crop ecosystems and landscapes. Our focus is on interactions between crop plants, soils and microbes that affect the delivery of important ecosystem services such as climate stability, water quality, and yield. Students working in my lab will be involved in field and laboratory studies to better understand what controls the sustainability of different agricultural systems.

Wetzel Lab – MSU Dept. of Entomology & Dept. of Integrative Biology: The Wetzel Lab studies how variability—including biological diversity and climate variability—influences interactions among plants, insect herbivores, and predators. We work in natural and agricultural ecosystems and strive to answer fundamental questions that have relevance for agricultural sustainability or global change biology. Our study species range from milkweed and monarchs to tomato and aphids. We do experiments and observational studies in the field and greenhouse and use statistical and mathematical modeling to link ecological processes and patterns across scales from individuals to communities. Students working in our lab will be involved in field experiments based at KBS that include manipulating temperatures using heaters and manipulating plant diversity, and quantifying the effects of these treatments on plant-insect interactions.

Zarnetske Lab – MSU Dept. of Integrative Biology: The Zarnetske Spatial and Community Ecology Lab (SpaCE Lab) investigates how the composition and geographic distribution of ecological communities are affected by biotic interactions, species invasions, ​biophysical feedbacks, geodiversity, and climate change. Students in our lab would be involved with experimental studies established at KBS to determine how changes in temperature, precipitation, and insect herbivores affect different plant species in successional and restored grasslands. These studies inform our spatial modeling research on how biodiversity responds to environmental change from local to global scales.

Applications will open December 15, 2020 for Summer 2021 URAs.

We are continuing to work out details for Summer 2021.

What will you need?

• Ability to participate the entire 11-week program (May 16 – July 31, 2021)
• A PDF of your current resume
• A list of all college level math and science courses taken through Spring 2019
• A well-written statement of interest that highlights how this experience will enhance your learning and career goals
• Please DO NOT apply separately for KBS courses unless you intend to take courses at KBS even if not selected for the program.

Preference is given to MSU students who have just completed their freshman or sophomore year, or have recently transferred to MSU from a community college, and have little to no prior research experience.

We strongly encourage applications from underrepresented groups in the sciences, first-generation college students and US military vets. You must be a U.S. citizen, or permanent resident of the U.S., with undergraduate status to participate.

Please contact the KBS Academic Programs Coordinator, Lindsey Kemmerling (kemmerL4@msu.edu), if you have a specific question about the KBS URA program for Summer 2021. She can provide you with the most up to date information as things continue to change.