Friday, December 20, 2013

Fragments: Haiti Four Years after the Earthquake

The NIU Anthropology Museum is proud to announce the official opening of the exhibit, "Fragments: Haiti Four Years after the Earthquake." It will be an evening of performance and reflection from Haitian American artists and community leaders: Consul Lesly Conde, Judge Lionel Jean-Baptiste, Jan Sebon, Kantara Souffrant, and Elsie Hernandez.

The opening is from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, January 24th, at the museum, located in Cole Hall, on the NIU campus in DeKalb.

For more information visit the website:


Research opportunities for ENVS students

Summer Undergrad wildlife internship at Brookhaven National Lab
https://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1312c&L=ecolog-l&P=2091

Graduate research opportunity in water quality & phosphorus - Iowa State
https://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1312c&L=ecolog-l&P=2549 

Full Time Paid Summer Internship

Illinois River Energy
Environmental, Health & Safety Internship

http://www.illinoisriverenergy.com/documents/Internship%20-%20EHS.pdf

Monday, December 16, 2013

Midwest Groundcovers Summer Internship Program


Midwest Groundcovers Summer Internship Program
Midwest Groundcovers offers opportunities for students to experience working in several departments and locations of Midwest Groundcovers.
Customer Service/Sales/Marketing Intern – St. Charles, Illinois
The intern will perform various activities and learn the inner workings of our Customer Service department and spend time working in the Retail Shoppe and the Wholesale Yard.  The intern will learn many different aspects of marketing, including creating company promotional materials, assisting with imaging projects, learning and maintaining the plant database.

Production Intern – Fennville, Michigan
The intern will experience aspects of plant propagation including cutting, sticking, misting, and drenching. Additional work experiences may include inventory assistance, record keeping, cultural care, pruning, spacing, aiding in fertilization of plants, tracking degree days, disease and pest identification and production scheduling insight.

Production Intern – Virgil, Illinois
The intern will experience aspects of plant propagation including cutting, sticking, misting, and drenching. Additional work experiences may include inventory, record keeping, cultural care, pruning, spacing, tracking degree days, and production scheduling insight.

Landscape Intern – St. Charles, Illinois
The intern will be doing “hands on” work involving display gardens at the main office and leading the landscape crew on various projects.


Midwest Trading Internship Program

Horticultural Soils Interns – Virgil, Illinois
Over the course of this internship work will be done in the Center for Horticultural Soils Testing and Research running laboratory analysis and collecting data for Soil, Soilless media and their components. This includes Nursery, Greenhouse, Landscape, Green Roof, Bioswale, and other engineered blends. Additionally a research project will be conducted and presented at the conclusion of the internship. This internship involves some physically demanding work in a variety of environments and weather. Proficiency in Microsoft Office preferred, especially Excel, with ability to work independently with attention to detail. This is an opportunity to learn and experience the brown side of the green industry.  There are opportunities for full-time and/or part-time Soils internships lasting from 3-6 months during the spring and summer.


Our goal is to provide a multifaceted and meaningful opportunity for the student to experience the day-to-day operations in specified focused work areas.  The intern will have the opportunity to attend educational and social events such as trade shows, seminars, in-house training and our company picnic.  The intern program features an initial goal setting plan at the start of the internship with a review of the program and goal achievement at the conclusion of the program.       
                              
For further details on job opportunities within the Midwest Companies email us at: midwestjobs@midwestgroundcovers.com or call 847-742-1790 ext. 2017

Visit our website at www.midwestgroundcovers.com

Monday, December 9, 2013

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

http://b2science.org/outreach/reu 

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Program Information

The Biosphere 2 REU provides 10 undergraduates an opportunity to conduct guided research in environmental and earth systems science at a leading and unique research institution. Students will receive stipends of $5,000 for the 10-week research internship, housing on the Biosphere 2 campus, $500 to cover travel costs to and from Tucson, AZ and a food allowance. The program runs from the beginning of June to mid-August. Students will be selected from across the country to participate in the program. They will conduct research in Biosphere 2, in labs on the University of Arizona Campus, and potentially in the desert and mountain ecosystems in southern Arizona.
The REU program at B2 is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. We share the goals of the NSF to use the REU experience as a way to provide research opportunities for students who might not have such opportunities at their home institutions. The program will allow students to gain experience in research firsthand, as well as training and preparation for careers in science. It is our hope that participation in the REU program will help prepare students for graduate studies in science.

How To Apply 

To apply to the B2 REU program, click on "Apply". Your application package will consist of (1) an application form that includes contact information, educational background, and optional information on gender and ethnic background; (2) a 2-page maximum narrative statement of educational and career goals, research experiences and interests; and (3) two letters of recommendation from faculty at your home institution. Application materials, including letters of recommendation must be received by February 7th, 2014.

Am I Eligible to Apply?

Students majoring in, or in a curriculum leading to one of the following fields in environmental or earth system science will be well suited to participate in the B2 REU: biology, ecology, plant sciences, hydrology, soil science, atmospheric science, geology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, or computer science. You must be an incoming sophomore, junior, or senior in the fall following your REU experience. Students must have a minimum 3.0 G.P.A. to be eligible for the program. You must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to be eligible for NSF/REU grant support. We encourage applications from students in groups underrepresented in science.

Questions?

Please contact the program coordinator, Dr. Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman or Dr. Katerina Dontsova if you have questions about the program.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Paid Undergraduate Research Position


Paid Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Position in the Jones Lab

Faculty Name: Dr. Holly Jones http://www.bios.niu.edu/jones/lab/
Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Title: Restoration intern
Requested for: Spring Semester 2014 (January 13th - April 30th)
Hours per week: 10
Pay: $10/hour.  Potential for internship credit in addition to pay.

Position Description: As resource use grows and land uses change, restoration of degraded ecosystems is becoming a key tool to stem biodiversity loss. Restoration historically has had a botanical bias, with less focus on higher trophic levels. Trophic interactions help determine community structure and ecosystem function, leaving key components of responses to restoration poorly understood. In this project, a student will examine the community structure and trophic interactions of small mammals within a tallgrass prairie. The undergraduate will help trap small mammal populations and perform seed removal experiments in prairies that have been restored from 1-25 years ago. Specific learning objectives are to: 1) describe how mammal populations change with time since restoration and 2) evaluate how seed removal by small mammals changes through time and relate those changes with observed plant diversity.

List of duties and responsibilities: Trap small mammals at Nachusa. Help deploy seed predation experiments at Nachusa. Collect and analyze data from Nachusa. Perform laboratory duties to help process stable isotopic samples from Nachusa.  Attend weekly Jones lab meetings.

Qualifications: The ideal student will have: 1) taken biology, ecology, or ENVS 302; 2) a strong work ethic; 3) A GPA of 3.0 or higher and 4) the ability to work in extreme conditions.


Information on how the student should apply: Email: 1. Letter of interest which includes career goals 2. Resume 3. Unofficial transcripts to Dr. Holly Jones at hjones@niu.edu by December 31st, 2013.