About the Project:
The entire course will be an active learning opportunity where students will be working closely with a faculty member on research projects. Students will be engaged in research throughout the course of their freshman year collecting data, analyzing and interpreting their results and eventually presenting their findings. Thus, this course will focus primarily on students doing science compared to more traditional courses that teach about science. Once a week all students in the program will meet as a group with the faculty for discussions and updates on research projects. These meetings will give the entire research group a chance to exchange and develop ideas. Potential Marine Science projects include:
- Field studies and use of a catalog of dorsal fin markings to investigate social patterns in the bottlenose dolphin (field surveys and lab work with dolphin fin catalog)
- Trace metal concentrations in Gulf of Mexico sediments following the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill (lab work)
- Timing, frequency and environmental impacts of extreme events (e.g., hurricanes) or land use change on sensitive coastal environments, as recorded in sediments (field and lab work)
- Microplastics in Tampa Bay: spatial and temporal variability (field collecting and lab work)
- Assessing impacts from red tide on seafloor communities and geochemical processes (field collection and lab work)
- Establishing baseline seafloor community and geochemical processes characterization prior to Deep Sea Mining (lab work)
- Surveillance of Pollution from Emerging Chemical Threats in Tampa Bay (field collection and lab work)
- Climate change research on invertebrate fishery species physiology and reproduction (lab work)
- Monitoring juvenile recruitment and tagging of fishery species (stone crabs) in Tampa Bay (field work + lab work)
- Assess the influence of environmental factors on soil development as well as plant establishment, distribution, and productivity in natural and created mangrove forests
- Monitoring and assessment of resilience and population structure of local sea anemone populations (field collecting and lab work)
- Identifying ecological dynamics and drivers of marine invertebrate assemblages in estuarine to deep-sea environments over geological timescales and in response to anthropogenic impacts (field and/or lab work)
- Environmental DNA sampling in local waterways alongside visual surveys for invasive species and other invertebrate taxa of interest (field and lab work)
The First-Year Research Associate Program at Eckerd College honors academically outstanding students with awards of up to $1,000. The program also provides the opportunity, during the freshman year, for the award winners to work closely with a sponsor (faculty or administrative personnel) on a project of mutual interest. Associates might assist with research for faculty publication or new courses, conduct scientific experiments, work with creative artists, or develop projects related to any phase of the academic, cultural, and social life of the college. Scholars are selected on the basis of achievement in high school and on the creativity and depth of responses to items on this application.
Online submission due no later than
February 1, 2025.
