The Sustainability Program at the University of South Dakota is offering a NSF REU program this summer titled “Sustainable RIVER (Remediating InVasives to Encourage Resilience).” Sustainable RIVER is a full-time, paid, undergraduate research opportunity. In the Sustainable RIVER project, the students will investigate different invasive elements and cultural and natural stressors affecting the Missouri River. The students will conduct an independent research project (see below), participate in six field trips on and along the Missouri River, and produce a team project.
Research projects for the summer of 2017 are:
· Effects of invasive trees on native floodplain forest vegetation and breeding birds
· Effects of modified sediment loads on Missouri River and tributary hydrology
· Effects of invasive fish on Missouri River food webs
· Construction of a Missouri River participatory geographic information system database
· Terrestrial land-use changes along the Missouri National Recreational River
· Understanding competing value claims of the Missouri River
· Effects of contaminants and pathogens on amphibians along the Missouri River
· Ethnohistorical relationships among American Indian tribes and the Missouri River
· Reincorporating prairies into Missouri River landscapes
The Sustainable RIVER project will run from 30 May 2017 to 11 August 2017. Students participating in the project will receive a $5,775 stipend plus additional funding for food, housing, and travel. This project is open to any undergraduate student, but students from community or tribal colleges and students studying sustainability are especially encouraged to apply. Applications for the project can be submitted now through 28 February 2017.
If you would like more information about the Sustainable RIVER project, please visit www.SustainableRIVER.org
or contact:
Meghann Jarchow, PhD
Sustainability Program Coordinator
Churchill-Haines Labs 171E
Sustainability Program Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/SustainabilityAtUSD
Sustainability Program University Page: