Biodiversity & Environmental Restoration

• Students interested in volunteering for seed germination experiments or doing field work at the Nachusa Grasslands. (David Goldblum)

• He foresees continuing opportunities for students to get involved with biodiversity monitoring and inventory work at area forest preserves. (Richard King)

• Students interested in investigating bush encroachment into degraded grasslands of Botswana. There is also potential for research work at the Nachusa Grasslands (Oak Savannas) and in Mexico. (Lesley Rigg)

• There are opportunities for students who want to help track populations of dragonfly adults and larvae, investigate habitat and prey preference, or develop models of these systems. There also are opportunities for students who may be interested in developing integrated ecological-economic models addressing questions related to conservation/restoration ecology and ecosystem services. (Carl von Ende)

Energy Studies

• Dr. Chen may have research opportunities for students interested in health systems engineering or concurrent engineering. (Shi-Jie (Gary) Chen)

• There are opportunities for students who are interested in working on the project to reduce fossil fuel dependence in the railroad industry, working on the super high mileage vehicle, and other energy-related projects. (Cliff Mirman)

• Students interested in using GIS to map natural gas production in the Pennsylvania Marcellus shale. Students interested in creating a historic energy return on investment from California oil and gas fields. (David Murphy)

• Students may be able to explore the heat transfer capabilities of biomass or work with pneumatic conveyance systems to explore reasons for particle drop-out. (Nick Pohlman)

The Human Experience

• Students interested in research on the moral status of animals or environmental ethics, especially ethical dimensions of global climate change. (Jason Hanna)

• Students interested in interdisciplinary projects involving regional environmental research. He hopes to engage students outside of the history “box." (Eric Mogren)

• There are several opportunities to do self-directed literature research and feminist research projects. Dr. Swanson hopes to help create study abroad programs connected with Environmental Studies that would focus on gender, the environment, and education. (Diana Swanson)

• Students interested in becoming partners and engaged in the community as researchers by working with citizen groups to do field research, outreach, collecting and analyzing field data, web-based work, publicity work, helping rural communities to do news releases and op-ed pieces. (Kendall Thu)

Environmental Policy

• Students interested in researching and tracking the management of oil spills; also the intersection of environmental law and animal law (CAFOs, for example). (Beth Henning)

• Students interested in studying the politics of environmental, health, and safety regulation can participate in Dr. Swedlow's research on these topics by taking POLS 324 Politics of Environmental, Health, and Safety Regulation or POLS 611 US Regulatory Politics in Comparative Perspective. (Brendon Swedlow)

Water

• There are always opportunities for students interested in lab work, and in field work in Illinois and Mexico. Dr. Lenczewski is also working on grants to increase the number of Latino students in Environmental Studies. (Melissa Lenczewski)

• There are opportunities for students who are interested in researching microscopic fossils, mostly from Antarctica, which provide a long-term climate template with which to compare the current climate change being seen on short time scales. (Reed Scherer)

• Dr. Shibata has several research sites around the world (e.g. US, Japan, Indonesia, and Mexico) where he and his students conduct environmental and exposure assessments in order to protect and promote human health, especially children. Dr. Shibata will direct a study abroad program in Indonesia in the summer 2012. (Tomoyuki Shibata)