Undergraduate Research Opportunities
2024-25 EPS/ESCI and OS Undergrad Research Opportunities
Undergraduate Lab Assistant - Polito Lab
Description of lab activity: The Polito lab is seeking an organized and dependable student employee for Fall 2025. This position is open to currently enrolled UCSC undergraduates who have accepted Federal Work Study (FWS) with funds remaining in their award. For this position, the student would be working in our laboratory to process samples from projects focused on Antarctic seabird work as well as saltmarsh habitats in Louisiana — check out the lab website for more information: https://www.politolab.com/. Examples of tasks for this position include but are not limited to: Sample sorting, labeling, organizing, and packing (10%), Species identification and dissection (15%), Sample preparation for stable isotope analyses (60%), Data entry and organization (15%). We estimate about 10 hours of work per week from September to December with the potential possibility to extend into the winter and spring quarters.
This is a paid work study position ($15-$20)
Required Experience: Must be work-study Eligible. Prior experience not required and training will be provided. This position is designed to help undergraduate students gain experience in a research setting. .
Contact: Mike Polito
Project Title: Changing Marine Ecosystems of the Bering Sea Over the Last 400,000 YearsDescription of lab activity: We are looking for organized, reliable students to help us reconstruct the climate of the Bering Sea for the past 400,000 years. Weekly work includes preparing sediment samples for isotope and grain size analysis. Students will be massing out samples on a microbalance, preparing pellets for the elemental analyzer, and using chemicals to dissolve certain sediment components. There is the possibility for continuing this project in future quarters and/or pursuing a capstone project with the data generated.
This is a paid work study position ($20)
Required Experience: Must be work-study Eligible. No previous science experience necessary however students should be organized, reliable, and have a keen attention to detail.
Contact: Beth Caissie
PIs: Beth Cassie and Christina Ravelo
Project Title: Ecophysiology of large whales
Description of lab activity: We are looking for motivated individuals to join our lab and help and learn about the laboratory techniques we use to study large whale physiology at sea.
Required Experience: Basic lab skills.
Preferred Experience: Pipetting skills, wet lab bench skills.
Contact: Logan Pallin
PI: Ari Friedlaender
Project Title: A Time Series of Mercury Speciation in Seawater
Description of lab activity: Collect seawater from the coastal campus and process/analyze the samples for mercury speciation back at E&MS. Less than 5 hours per week.
Required Experience: Must have completed the CHEM 1 or 3 series; ESCI majors preferred.
PI Name: Carl Lamborg
Project Title: Energy Budget vs Sexual Dimorphism Tradeoffs in Ostracods during the PETM
Description of lab activity: You would be washing and preparing soil samples to separate the microfossils from the rest of the soil particles. After samples have been washed, you would be "picking" ostracods out of the soil using a light microscope. Microscope and lab experience preferred but not necessary.
Required Experience: Microscope and lab experience preferred but not necessary (classes and non-academic jobs count too). Must be lab safety conscious and able to follow experimental protocols.
Contact: J Fearon
PI: Matthew Clapham
Project Title: Green Hydrogen via high current density seawater electrolysis
Description of lab activity: Interdisciplinary project with BSoE Kobayashi Lab at WRP involving sequential upscaling of our patent pending methodologies.
Required Experience: Science and tech.
Research lab work.
Contact: John Koster
PI: Dr. Nobuhiko Koyabashi
Project Title: Salt Marsh Sediment Core Sampling & Processing
Description of lab activity: Student will work closely with a MS Earth Science student to sample shallow salt marsh sediment from the Hester Marsh restoration site and analyze these samples using analytical laboratory techniques. One field day may be necessary to collect soil samples from the field site. Soil samples will be analyzed for volumetric water content, salinity, organic matter, and the particle size distribution.
This is a paid position ($16/hour for 6 hours/week)
Required Experience: Ability to use an analytical balance and spreadsheet software.
Preferred Experience : Previous laboratory experience and concurrent or previous enrollment in EART 116 (Hydrology).
Contact: Levi Robbins
PI: Margaret Zimmer
Project Title: Comparison of intra-annual krill dynamics from a penguin's perspective
Description of lab activity: Data analysis.
Required Experience: R coding.
PI Name: Megan Cimino
Predicting Harmful Algal Blooms
Description of lab activity: Predict harmful algal blooms from Ocean color data.
Required Experience: Competency with Python programming and Ocean Sciences concentration.
PI Name: J. Xavier Prochaska
Absorption by Pure Seawater
Description of lab activity: Perform absorption spectroscopy on samples of pure seawater. Generate the best absorption spectrum of pure seawater using a spectrograph at Lick Observator.
Required Experience: The ability to drive to Lick Observatory (Mt. Hamilton) several times per quarter. Competency with Python programming and Ocean Sciences concentration.
PI Name: J. Xavier Prochaska
Global Distribution of Phytoplankton Biomass
Description of lab activity: Assess where phytoplankton grows across the ocean Download global datasets of Ch-a, convert to phytoplankton biomass and analyze.
Required Experience: Competency with Python programming and Ocean Sciences concentration.
PI Name: J. Xavier Prochaska
Faux Ocean Color Images
Description of lab activity: Generate mock images of how the ocean might look if we observed it.
Required Experience: Competency with Python programming and Ocean Sciences concentration.
PI Name: J. Xavier Prochaska
Sea Ice
Description of lab activity: Predict extent and evolution of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. Train an AI model to predict sea ice concentration
Required Experience: Completed a class in Machine Learning . Competency with Python programming and Ocean Sciences concentration.
PI Name: J. Xavier Prochaska
Ocean Fronts
Description of lab activity: Characterize and classify ocean fronts across the globe. Train an AI model to predict sea ice concentration
Required Experience: Completed a class in Machine Learning . Competency with Python programming and Ocean Sciences concentration.
PI Name: J. Xavier Prochaska
