Undergraduate Programs

The Hubbard Brook Research Foundation conducts undergraduate training year-round. Though our major program is a 10-week Research Experience for Undergraduates program in the summer months, additional efforts include a Research Experience for Teachers program, partnerships with visiting undergraduate classes and a Winter Ecosystems course held in early January:

Research Experience for Undergraduates Program

The Hubbard Brook LTER site currently has two Research Experience for Undergraduate positions available for the summer of 2012, in topics relating to tree physiological ecology and hydrology. Both positions will be embedded with teams of researchers working on related, but somewhat distinct, projects, so REU students will gain exposure to a variety of research projects while developing independent projects of their own.

This program is conducted with National Science Foundation funding that provides students with a $5,000 stipend, room and board, and an allowance to cover supplies and travel to and from site.

• This 10-week program begins Tuesday, May 29 and ends Tuesday, August 7.
  
• Applications are due by 5pm, March 2.
• Applicants must be United States citizens.
  

Position 1: Tree water relations and stream geomorphology

We have an opening for an REU student to gain experience working in the two areas of tree water relations and stream geomorphology with three Plymouth State University researchers who have related projects ongoing at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. With the experience gained from this exposure to eco-physiology and hydrology techniques and project questions, the student will develop an independent research project related to personal interests.

The PSU researchers who will mentor this position have projects that involve the linkages between tree nutrient status, sapflow, and tree species’ distributions, and stream channel analysis as it relates to sedimentation and stream chemistry.  The sapflow-centered project would involve work at a variety of sites in the White Mountain region where tree sapflow is investigated as it relates to site characteristics.  The stream geomorphology project would involve stream channel surveys and collection of sediment samples.

Position 2: Hillslope hydrology

A group of researchers from the USDA Forest Service, Virginia Tech, and the University of Vermont are collaborating on a project documenting the varying flowpaths that water takes through soils in its journey through hillslopes on its way to streams.  An REU student will work closely with a team including research scientists and graduate students installing and operating tensiometers and pore water samplers, and collecting and characterizing soil samples in a headwater forested watershed. The approach of this project follows the emerging discipline of hydropedology, with implications for understanding water quality regulation and spatial patterns in forest soil habitats. Within this framework, the REU student will develop, conduct and report on an independent project.

To apply: 

Download the application form and submit it, along with the essay described in the form, to:  gwilson@hbresearchfoundation.org   by 5 pm on Friday, March 2.  Applicants must be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at the time of the program.  First semester seniors are eligible, but recent graduates are not.

College and University Field Trips

We offer tours to college and university classes from May through October. We request course instructors to provide us with their course syllabus and brief written statements describing how the site visit is incorporated into the course curriculum. This helps us tailor tours to the needs of the course and provides us with data on how our field trips fit into higher education. For more information, please contact the Programs Director.

Winter field courses

Our first Winter Ecosystems course was piloted in January, 2010 as a first step towards offering winter field courses at Hubbard Brook. Seven scientists and staff presented a 4-day Winter Ecosystems module as a major part of a winter ecology course offered at neighboring Plymouth State University. We expect to build on this effort and offer some form of a winter course each winter, targeting regional teachers and undergraduates in alternating years.