ASU SoLS: Summer REU Program

Undergraduate students are invited to apply for a summer fellowship program. This program is sponsored by the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, the Central Arizona Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research Program at Arizona State University in conjunction with the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University and the National Science Foundation. The program offers opportunities for exceptional undergraduate students to gain experience conducting individual research projects. Students will interact with other scientists, including other undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty who are conducting research in environmental biology in the American Southwest or in the urban ecological system of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Eligibility: Students must be undergraduates in summer 2008; that is, May/June 2008 graduates are not eligible for the program. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Women and ethnic minority students are especially encouraged to apply. Prior research experience is not required, but applicants should be in good academic standing and express an interest in learning about research.

Schedule, Stipend, Course Credit: Priority deadline is April 4, 2008; however, applications will be accepted until positions are filled or until May 15. The program begins within two weeks after spring classes end. Participation will include full-time involvement (> 40 h/wk) for 10 weeks during summer 2008. Number of fellowships to be awarded is subject to availability of funds. The summer stipend for fellowships is approximately $3000, with support for housing and travel if needed. On-campus (or on-site) housing is available if requested early. Research materials and supplies will be covered by the individual research projects. Student fellows will receive 6 hours of course credit (BIO 394 ST: REU) for the summer. The tuition cost is waived.

ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY and URBAN ECOLOGY PROJECTS:

Project 1: The sky is falling: how does atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition affect ecological processes in lakes? Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, resulting from human activities such agriculture and fossil fuel combustion, has the potential to alter ecological processes in lakes. Levels of N deposition levels have risen in ecosystems downwind of urban areas, such as the central Rocky Mountains in Colorado. With this rise in N inputs comes an increased risk of changes in lake zooplankton, the main food source of fish populations. Knowing the health of the zooplankton populations gives us a better understanding of the general health of the fish populations and of the lake ecosystem in general. We propose, through a series of experiments, to test how atmospheric N deposition may be affecting zooplankton. We will study zooplankton physiological status for high elevation lakes in the Colorado Rocky Mountains by collecting zooplankton and water from a number of lakes and performing growth studies on the laboratory of nearby field stations.

The REU student will work with Dr. Jim Elser and members of his laboratory on two main tasks: (1) performing fieldwork to support the overall project, which may include hiking to alpine lakes, collecting zooplankton from an inflatable boat, carrying heavy containers of water down the mountains, and general laboratory work including setting up growth experiments, conducting chemical analyses, and assisting with zooplankton handling; (2) conducting an independent research project, such as investigating the physiological status of lake phytoplankton (the food source of zooplankton) or of bacterioplankton (which play an important role in nutrient cycling).

The student will have hands-on experience conducting ecological fieldwork in Colorado, will gain familiarity with the principles of scientific research and experimental design, and the actual performance of an independent project.

Project 2: How do Phoenix Metro area birds adapt to urbanization? Many studies have described effects of urbanization on natural ecosystems, in particular vertebrate populations. However, the mechanisms by which urbanization influence these populations remain largely unknown, as are the specific cues that organisms use to modulate their responses to anthropogenic disturbances. For example, some Sonoran Desert bird species thrive in residential areas in the Phoenix Metro region whereas other species do not tolerate changes in their native habitats resulting from urbanization. What determines this difference and why do species differ with respect to their adaptability to urbanization? Answering these questions will become increasingly important in a world where the influence of humans on natural ecosystems becomes ever more pervasive and widespread.

Research in Dr. Pierre Deviche’s laboratory in the past few years has revealed a number of behavioral and physiological differences between urban and rural conspecific birds that may shed light into this issue. For example, urban and rural birds differ with respect to their sensitivity to infections with protozoan blood parasites, their physiological response to acute short-term stress, and their response to a behavioral challenge mimicking intrusion of a conspecific bird into their breeding territory. A critical but so far unanswered question has to do whether these and other differences are “hard-wired” as compared to plastic, i.e., the result of exposure to different ambient conditions. This question can be addressed through the use of “common garden experiments” in which the behavior and physiology of rural and urban birds are measured in response to exposure to rigorously identical conditions (housing, food, day length, temperature, etc). As well, physiological manipulations can be performed to evaluate whether a same endocrine challenge produces similar downstream hormonal and physiological changes in urban and city birds tested in their respective environments.

Thus, studies on this topic encompass a field and laboratory approaches and take advantage of an array of methodologies, from quantitative behavioral observations to classic endocrine manipulations and hormone assays in the laboratory.

We intend the REU student who will be involved in the above work to be an integral member of our research team. The student will be exposed to a broad range of field and laboratory techniques and, through hands-on work, will gain thorough familiarity with the principles of sound scientific research and the processes that are involved in the design of properly controlled experiments, the performance of a project including standardized data collection, analysis, and presentation for peer evaluation, and writing of the results for submission to peer-reviewed journals. We anticipate including this student's name in manuscripts and conference abstracts reporting results that (s)he will have contributed to obtaining. The above research is interfaces ecology, population dynamics, ethology, and physiology. It provides an exciting opportunity to learn about the benefits of using a multidisciplinary approach to address specific scientific questions that are of considerable fundamental and practical interest.

Project 3: Our Carbon Addiction: A study of the complex relationship between humans and carbon in the Phoenix Metropolitan Region. Urbanization radically alters regional carbon dynamics, although the relationship between humans and carbon is quite complex. Our ability to have a sustainable future on this planet is highly dependent on how humans use and abuse this element, yet we do not have a basic understanding of how much carbon enters cities, in what form, where it is stored and how it is re-released into the atmosphere. Our goal in this project is to develop a spatially explicit carbon budget for the Phoenix Metropolitan Area where we not only quantify carbon dynamics, but also identify how lifestyle choices and development patterns drive key processes in the carbon cycle. The REU student will have an opportunity to work on many facets of this research project and gain skills in developing research questions, data mining, field work, data processing, statistical analyses, and report writing. This student will also benefit from working in an interactive multidisciplinary environment with other students, post-doctoral researchers, faculty, and resource practitioners. Working with Drs. Melissa McHale and Nancy Grimm, the REU student will help develop spatially explicit theory on how cities can reduce their carbon footprint.

Project 4: Do urban soil microorganisms eat compounds deposited from urban air pollution? Urbanization has led to an increase of combustion-derived, organic carbon emissions that can deposit diffusely to soils within and surrounding our cities. Many of these pollutants degrade environmental quality and may be unhealthy to various biological life forms, including humans. Soil microorganisms utilize organic carbon compounds for energy, and they are known to be able to degrade petroleum-based compounds in contaminated soil (point-source pollution). However, little is known about their capacity to degrade diffuse carbon pollution deposited from the atmosphere. In this project, we are asking the question, "Do microorganisms degrade non-point carbon pollution in urban soils? Also, “are urban soil microbes more adapted to eat combustion-derived carbon compounds compared to microbes that live in desert soils away from the city?" To accomplish the research goals, we will characterize the organic compounds that are entering our soil, determine if the type of pollutant and location relative to the city influences how microbes process the carbon, and identify if the types of microbes that live in urban soils are different than those that live in the outlying desert environment. The REU student will work in Dr. Sharon Hall’s lab and participate in designing and carrying out a controlled experiment in the field and laboratory that will assist in exploring the questions of the overall project. The student will learn to properly set up an experiment to test hypotheses, measure soil properties and processes, understand microbial interactions and biogeochemical transformations, and analyze data for meaningful results.

Project 5: Fossil Fuels or Forest Fires - How Black is the Carbon in Phoenix Soils? Black carbon is often referred to as ‘soot’ and it is the result of incomplete burning of organic matter. It forms very fine particles that are easily transported through the atmosphere. Black carbon has two main sources: human-derived soot from fossil fuel burning, and natural soot from forest fires. Phoenix is a rapidly developing city, in a region that also has had many large forest fires; thus it is an interesting place to explore both types of black carbon. Currently, very little is known about how much black carbon is present in our soils; which source (fossil fuel burning or forest fires) is more important in our region; or if the source of black carbon has changed as the city has grown. The goal of this project is to analyze the amount of black carbon in Phoenix area soils and assess if there are patterns in the distribution of black carbon throughout the urban area. In addition, the study will explore whether the amount of black carbon in soils is larger in areas with a known history of fire.

Potential questions to be explored:

The REU student will learn soil sampling techniques, basic soil chemistry measurements, and analytical techniques working with Dr. Hilairy Hartnett; he or she and will be an integral part of the team of graduate and undergraduate researchers in her Biogeochemistry Laboratory. The REU student will also explore patterns in black carbon that are related to land use (agriculture) and fire history. The REU student working on this project will also have the opportunity to interact with researchers in Dr. Sharon Hall’s lab who are interested in atmospheric deposition of carbon and soil carbon biogeochemistry. Dr. Hartnett’s group explores a wide range processes that produce, transform and consume carbon in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Her students have interests in biogeochemistry, environmental chemistry, geobiology and chemical engineering.

Project 6: Stormy weather! How do summer monsoons affect carbon cycling in Tempe Town Lake? Tempe Town Lake (a man-made lake in downtown Tempe, AZ) is primarily a recreational body of water, but the lake also serves as a form of flood control. Rainwater and stormwater flow into the lake during the summer monsoons and winter storms; that water carries organic carbon into the lake. The amount of carbon can vary quite a lot over the year. In Jan 2005 a winter storm brought river water with high dissolved organic carbon concentrations. Carbon in the lake decreased over the spring/early summer but increased again after the monsoon rains. These results suggest that during rainy seasons, organic carbon from the land is washed into Tempe Town Lake. During dry periods, biogeochemical processes consume organic carbon and decrease DOC concentrations in the lake. The goal of this project is to collect daily water samples from Tempe Town Lake over the course of the summer and analyze the amount and the form of the organic compounds in the lake before, during and after monsoon rain events.

Potential questions to be explored:

The REU student will learn water sampling techniques, basic water quality measurements, and analytical techniques working with Dr. Hilairy Hartnett, and will be an integral part of the team of graduate and undergraduate researchers in her Biogeochemistry Laboratory. The REU student working on this project will also learn to examine large data sets and explore the relationships among water chemistry, biological processes and environmental events (rainfall). Dr. Hartnett’s group explores a wide range processes that produce, transform and consume carbon in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Her current students have interests in biogeochemistry, environmental chemistry, geobiology and chemical engineering.

Project 7: In what ways do black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus) populations from disturbed, urban habitats differ from populations from undisturbed, desert habitats? The field of behavioral ecology has yet to fully embrace the study of animal systems that are responding to significant ecological disruption following human disturbances (e.g. habitat destruction, urban expansion, non-native species introductions). The reluctance to undertake behavioral studies of human-disturbed systems will eventually be overwhelmed by our need to understand how variation in response to human disturbance affects population fitness. This is particularly critical in urban, pest species of medical importance such as L. hesperus.Of particular value will be studies that examine the links between fitness, behavior, population ecology, and population genetics, and extend such an integrative analysis to compare undisturbed populations with disturbed populations. The student(s), working with JC Johnson and G Morse will take an active role in the following research goals for the coming summer:

The student will gain specific skills in field-population censusing, rearing spiders and conducting behavioral assays in the laboratory, and quantifying population-genetic structureusing amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). More broadly, the student will be exposed to the scientific method at work and will design their own side-project to answer a related research question that they formulate.

Project 8: Socio-Ecological Functioning of Residential Landscapes. Residential landscapes, such as yards and gardens, are an increasingly important component of urban ecosystems. For example, turfgrass lawns are now the largest irrigated crop in the U.S., covering 10-16 million hectares and contributing to high rates of water and fertilizer use. However, we know little about differences between landscape types, such as mesic v xeric yards, or their impacts on ecological processes. How and why do people choose particular landscape types and management practices in their yards? Furthermore, what are the impacts of these residential landscape practices on important ecological processes and ecosystem services? In our interdisciplinary study, we are exploring the relationships between the drivers of residential landscaping decisions, the diversity of these management practices, and their impacts on local and regional ecological processes. The REU student will work closely with our research team, including Elizabeth Cook (Ph.D. student), Dr. Sharon Hall, and Dr. Kelli Larson, to develop a research project that examines the linked biological and social characteristics of residential yards. This project may be accomplished through analysis of social and/or ecological field data collected prior to or after the start date of the REU (either summer or fall 2008)*. Depending on the selected students skills and scholarly interests, the REU student will also collaborate in the collection of in-depth biological and social survey data, such as soil sampling and home owner interviews, in our case-study neighborhoods, analyze GIS data, and/or utilize information from residential sites of the CAP-LTER 200-point survey. *We are requesting an REU for June 2008-June 2009

Project 9: The Impact of Land Use Restrictions on the Market Value of Residential properties and Land: An Application to the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The purpose of this proposed research is to investigate the economic benefits of policies that either directly restrict land use patterns or create incentives to include open space, habitat corridors, and other protected natural landscapes in development plans. These activities are intended to enhance environmental amenities and ecosystem services. It has been difficult to quantify the economic benefits associated with programs that are intended to enhance their availability (or avoid significant losses in services provided by an undeveloped landscape). Research completed to date (primarily by undergraduate research fellows working within the Center for Environmental Economics and Sustainability Policy (CEESP)) has lead to the development of a data base with records for the sales of private homes in Maricopa County over the period from 1995 to 2006. These data include links to several local amenities including the concentration of air pollutants and temperature records for the months preceding the homes’ sales. They do not include information on patterns of land uses in areas surrounding each house location. The REU student will work with Dr. Kerry Smith to expand the geo-coded data for Maricopa County to include a historical record of the land uses relevant to the properties based on their sale dates as well as to begin the process of developing a comparable data base for Pinal County, Arizona.