STEM Summer Research Project Descriptions
Below are some examples of faculty lab opportunities for summer 2024. Some of the faculty listed take part in the early STEM selection process, some do not. Please read carefully. For other STEM faculty members not listed, please see their web pages or contact them via email or in person.
Professor: Sarah Blythe
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-1-2024
Length: 10 weeks
Student Openings: 3
Topic: Can exercise ameliorate diet-induced ovarian dysfunction in rats?
Description:
The Blythe lab will be exploring the effects of diet and exercise on ovarian function during summer 2024. Students will have the opportunity to learn skills such as animal handling, behavioral testing, collection and preparation of biological samples, histological processing, microscopy, and image analysis. Furthermore, students will improve their scientific literacy and communication skills.
Professor: Paul Cabe
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-1-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Conservation genetics of Crayfish
Description:
We study the genetic diversity and evolutionary relatedness among populations of Virginia's (and nearby) crayfish to determine species identity and geographic range. Our primary tool is DNA sequence analysis. The work includes some field work, lab work to extract DNA, build DNA sequence data sets, and software analysis of the data.
Professor: Natalia Toporikova
Department: Biology, Data Science
Starting date: 6-1-2024
Length: 10 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Circadian clocks in spiders
Description:
Circadian clocks in spiders exhibit a wider variation than those found in other animals, yet they are still capable of entraining to the 24-hour Earth cycle. To further investigate this phenomenon, we aim to simulate different day durations to determine the limits of their circadian rhythm. To carry out this experiment, we are seeking someone interested in collecting spiders and conducting research on spider locomotion. It is essential that this individual possesses a keen interest and a desire to learn data science, as data analysis will play a crucial role in interpreting the results of the experiment.
Professor: Alicia Reigel
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-10-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Impacts of Stress on Marine Invert Microbiomes
Description:
Our possible projects will examine the impacts of human-induced stressors on the microbiomes and metabolic-responses of oysters and sponges using aquarium-based experiments, genetics, transcriptomics, and metabolomic analyses. All research will be based at Washington & Lee.
Professor: Bill Hamilton
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-1-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 3
Topic: Grasslands and Bison are cool, or Quantifying soil carbon storage capacity of Yellowstone National Park grasslands.
Description:
As part of a long-term bison grazing monitoring project, we will work with the National Park Service Bison Management group to collect plant and soil samples in Yellowstone National Park. Through a combination of field and lab work, this summer we will primarily be quantifying soil carbon dynamics. This will be done by measuring soil respiration, microbial diversity, and soil carbon.
Professor: Robert Humston
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-10-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Determining Causes of Trout Population Declines in the Jackson River, VA
Description:
Project includes:
•Working with state biologists to investigate causes of declines in wild trout populations
•A combination of field and lab work spanning June-July
•Possibilities for continuing lab and/or fieldwork in the academic year
Need 2 students to assist with:
•Surveying spawning habitats, assessing habitat quality, and deploying equipment to assess flood scouring in spawning areas.
•Collecting macroinvertebrate samples, identifying taxonomic composition, and determining biomass
Professor: Leah Lanier
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-10-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Impact of pesticides on the gut microbiome of tadpoles
Description:
This summer Dr. Lanier is looking for two students to begin an investigation into the potential impact of pesticides on the gut microbiome of tadpoles. In collaboration with Dr. Watson's Frog Squad, students will learn the basics of frog rearing, treating tadpoles with pesticides, and will be required to dissect tadpole intestines. Students will then extract DNA from the gut samples and analyze the resulting data from microbiome sequencing.
Professor: Nadia Ayoub
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-3-2024
Length: 10 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Spider silk and circadian genetics
Description:
Dr. Ayoub's Spider Team needs two new members who have interests in spider care, spider collecting, molecular genetics, biochemistry, or data analysis. Projects this summer will include behavioral and genetic analysis of circadian rhythms in spiders in collaboration with Dr. Toporikova, as well as spider silk protein biochemical analyses in collaboration with Dr. Friend.
Professor: Fiona Watson
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-10-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 3
Topic: Regeneration in the optic nerve
Description:
The lab is interested in the mechanisms underlying the regrowth of optic nerve axons following a nerve injury. Why study this in the frog? Because frogs and fish can regain their vision after an injury to the optic nerve but mammals can not, they simply go blind. Using a genomics-based approach, we identified several genes that may play a role in the regeneration process.
This summer we will be investigating the role of two genes, uchl-1 and gng8, to determine their role in the regeneration process. In addition, to identify other genes involved in specific aspects of the regrowth of axons following an injury, we plan to compare genomic data from the frog with that from a new animal species, the axolotl.
Professor: David Marsh
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-1-2024
Length: 9 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Urbanization and expansion of non-native reptile populations in the southeastern U.S.
Description:
Most non-native reptiles in the U.S. have come from tropical regions, either as escaped pets or as hitchhikers on ornamental plants. As tropical species, their northern range limit will likely be set by winter temperatures. However, urban areas may be substantially warmer than their surroundings, which could allow reptiles to move further north than would otherwise be possible. We will use a large database of reptile observations, along with mapping software and spatial data analysis to determine whether non-native reptiles become increasingly restricted to urban areas as they move further north. Our research should have implications for urban ecology and for our understanding of climate effects on non-native species.
Professor: Charles Winder
Department: Biology
Starting date: 6-10-2024
Length: 10 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Genetic diversity in the Greenland stitchwort, a critically imperiled alpine plant of the Southern Appalachians
Description:
The Appalachian stitchworts are a group of rare plants that are adapted to live in very specific and unusual habitats such as mountain summits, rocky forest clearings, and underneath rock ledges. The ecological diversity and specialization within this group of closely related plants suggests a complex evolutionary history in response to dramatic climate changes in the Appalachians during the ice ages of the Pleistocene. By studying existing patterns of genetic diversity in these plants, we can improve our understanding of how plants might respond in the face of future changes in climate. Also, since the Appalachian stitchworts live in very fragmented and fragile habitats, they are at special risk of decline and extinction. Understanding how genetic diversity is distributed within and among their populations is an important part of conserving them.
Professor: Erin Gray
Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
Starting date: 6-3-2024
Length: 9 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Illuminating New Catalytic Transformations
Description:
The Gray Group designs new catalytic transformations for the synthesis of complex molecules. To identify novel chemical bond-forming and bond-breaking methods, we harness the activity of catalysts and visible light.
Professor: Kyle Friend
Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
Starting date: 6-3-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: ChemTutor: a place to practice chemistry
Description:
We have developed and seek to improve a web application which provides tutorials and online practice for introductory college-level chemistry.
Professor: Erich Uffelman
Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
Starting date: 6-3-2024
Length: 9 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Technical Examination of Cultural Heritage Objects
Description:
Cultural heritage objects (especially paintings) will be examined on and off campus with various collaborators. We will use pXRF, IR imaging, reflectance imaging spectroscopy, and computational methods.
Professor: Jake Gibson
Department: Cognitive and Behavioral Science
Starting date: 6-3-2024
Length: 10 weeks
Student openings: 4
Topic: Personality Judgment Accuracy of Political Ideology and LGBTQIA+ Membership/Science of Magic Association Replication Project
Description:
We have been making recorded videos of individuals' lives, we are now going to show these recordings to a second set of participants and ask them to rate their personalities. We are also working on a project to begin to attempt to replicate some of the work from the Science of Magic Association.
Professor: Margaret Anne Hinkle
Department: Earth and Environmental Geoscience
Starting date: 6-17-2024
Length: 10 weeks
Student openings: 3
Topic: Mycoremediation of emerging contaminants
Description:
Using both biomineralizing fungi as well as the resulting biominerals, we aim to continue our work on manganese remediation from coal mine drainage and apply these same principles potentially to rare earth elements or PFAS, depending on student interest and site availability.
Professor: Nicholas Barber:
Department: Earth and Environmental Geoscience
Starting date: 6-7-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Magmatic Architecture and Geology of Ijen Caldera (M. A. G. I. C.)
Description:
You will join Prof. Barber's Volcanology and Igneous Petrology (V.I.P.) research lab on an international trip to Ijen caldera, Indonesia. We are attempting to reconstruct the eruptive history of Ijen's ancient and modern volcanism, with the goal of answering the basic question: how and why did this volcano form? You will catalogue samples in the field, build geological maps, prepare your samples, and then analyze them using geochemical and microstructural tools in collaboration with our local (Virginia Tech) and international (Cambridge, McGill, Gadjah Mada) partners. You also can participate in professional scientific conferences like Goldschmidt and GSA.
Research timeline (tentative): Two weeks in the field (June 3rd to June 17th), six to eight weeks in the lab (June 17th to August 16th)
Professor: David Harbor
Department: Earth and Environmental Geoscience
Starting date: 6-17-2024
Length: 8 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Experimental studies of erosion by plucking
Description:
Plucking is the removal of bedrock from a river or concrete from a spillway by fluid forces alone. Students will construct a flume in which to experimentally reproduce erosion by plucking and make multiple experiments varying channel slope, water discharge, block shapes and sizes, step height and more. Each experiment will have video and instrumental analysis of flow turbulence above the blocks, dye flow in the rock cracks, flow velocity, block motion, free surface and water pressure in the rock cracks. The setup and analysis will take many types of skills, including construction, coding and data analysis, and in addition, considerable resilience. A field trip to see dams and natural channels in the Sierra Nevadas is planned for 2024.
Professor: Elizabeth Denne
Department: Mathematics
Starting date: 6-3-2024
Length: 9 weeks
Student openings: 3
Topic: Folded ribbon knots in the plane
Description:
There are many possible research projects, depending on your interest.
Ribbonlength Problem:
What are upper and lower bounds on the folded ribbonlength?
Can we improve these bounds for certain families of knots? For example: torus knots, pretzel knots, etc.
Is there a relationship between ribbonlength and other knot invariants?
How does folded ribbonlength depend on
- the number of sides of the polygonal knot diagram?
- the number and type of folds?
Professor: Michael Bush
Department: Mathematics
Starting date: 6-3-2024
Length: 10 weeks
Student openings: 2
Topic: Periods of Recurrence Sequences
Description:
We will explore the periods of recurrence sequences defined in various (finite) algebraic structures, including various families of finite groups, using computational tools to help us see patterns and make conjectures.
Some flavor of the sorts of questions we might consider can be found in the introduction of the following paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.03238
Professor: Carrie Finch-Smith
Department: Mathematics
Length: TBD
Student openings: TBD
Topic: Number Theory
Description:
Prof. Finch-Smith works on research projects in number theory. In particular, her research group searches for families of positive integers with special properties. The only requirements to work with Prof. Finch are arithmetic skills and a sense of curiosity and wonder. The best part of the Finch-Smith lab is getting to work with Victor!