2023 Projects and Mentors
The Center for Tree Science REU program offers a wide range of research experiences in evolutionary biology, forest ecology, conservation biology, urban forestry and tree care, computer modeling, and engineering solutions. Undergraduates applying for the 2023 program will have a chance to select and rank their top three projects from the list below.
Project List
- Recovery and restoration of soil, plants, and fungi in brush pile burn scars
- Natural variation in shinnery oaks (Quercus havardii) and their hybrids
- Monitoring tree health and drought stress in urban trees
- Conserving genetic diversity of rare trees in botanic gardens
Project Descriptions
Recovery and restoration of soil, plants, and fungi in brush pile burn scars
Mentors: Meghan Midgley, Antonio Del Vallé
Summary: Brush cutting is a common technique used by natural resource managers in the Chicago region to remove invasive plants and open the canopy to promote oak growth in woodland ecosystems. Brush is typically piled and burned after cutting, as a cost-effective strategy of removing undesirable woody material. The impacts of brush pile burning have been studied in the western US, but little is known about how pile burning impacts soil, plants, fungi, and ultimately oak ecosystems in the Midwest. Moreover, little is known about the recovery of plants in these degraded burn scars, and what restoration techniques (if any) may be the most effective at promoting plant recovery.
This project focuses on studying the recovery of brush pile burn scars at The Morton Arboretum. This project will ultimately help provide information to managers in the region to determine when and how burn scars ecologically recover, while identifying what techniques may help to speed this recovery process. The student will be responsible for collecting samples and analyzing data from burn scars of different age classes. Gain hands-on experience surveying plants and collecting soil samples in the field, while also analyzing soil properties and identifying mycorrhizal fungi in the lab. The student can expect to develop these field and laboratory skills, while gaining experience in statistical analyses, professional writing, and oral presentations.
Preferred Qualifications: The applicant should have a strong interest in soil and plant ecology and research. Applicants should be comfortable working in outdoor settings in adverse conditions such as hot, humid weather and biting insects, as well as working in sedentary office environments. Important skills necessary for a successful applicant include clear communication, attention to detail, organization, and the ability to work independently and as a team. The student must be willing to discuss and develop research questions, conduct fieldwork and laboratory analyses, learn and perform statistical analyses, and present project findings via presentations and written reports.
Project setting: The Morton Arboretum with field and lab components
Natural variation in shinnery oaks (Quercus havardii) and their hybrids
Mentors: Chuck Cannon, Sam Panock, including collaboration with the 2022 REU student and a colleague at Midwestern State University (Wichita Falls, TX)
Summary: The shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) is an endangered species adapted to semi-arid sandy soils in the southwestern USA. This species is unusual because it forms large clonal groves that spread through the sandy soils, playing an important role in stabilizing the land and creating extensive below-ground biomass. In the rolling hills and plains region of Texas, these trees also hybridize extensively with three to four other oak species, resulting in a remarkable diversity of leaf and growth forms. Using a combination of remote sensing, drone monitoring, and field surveys, the student will work with a small team to document the landscape distribution of this diversity, in both morphology and genetics, and help establish long-term monitoring protocols. The student’s project will build upon the previous year’s work and will collaborate directly with the team of scientists and students actively working on the project.
Preferred qualifications: Willingness to learn a variety of field and lab techniques, including botanical specimen collection and analysis, basics of genetic analysis, and remote sensing techniques, including the use of drone surveillance.
Project setting: Primarily at the Morton Arboretum but including a two-week field trip to properties near Spur, Texas to collect samples, map populations, and fly the drone. The field trip could involve sleeping some nights in a tent and working outside for long hours in dry and hot conditions.
Monitoring tree health and drought stress in urban trees
Mentors: Luke McCormack, Marvin Lo
Summary: Healthy trees in urban areas provide numerous benefits to people including improved physical health and mental wellbeing. However, trees in urban settings can be prone to drought stress due to limited soil volumes, poor water infiltration and nutrient imbalances. Furthermore, climate change is expected to increase the occurrence of drought for trees in some urban areas. It is therefore important to understand how drought will impact the tree species that are most commonly planted in urban areas today, and to help identify candidate species for future use in urban settings so that we can increase the diversity and resilience of our urban forests. In this project, students will conduct repeated physiological measurements of tree responses to drought as well as tree recovery among different species. The findings will then be used to support recommendations for tree selections and plantings in managed areas.
Preferred Qualifications: Must be interested in plant ecology, tree care, or similar fields and have completed at least one college-level course relevant to the study of plants. Students must also be willing to discuss and develop research questions, conduct fieldwork and laboratory analyses, and perform statistical analysis with data interpretation.
- Coursework/background: introductory biology required; ecology or plant physiology course preferred
- Ability to work in both field (hot, humid, rain, insects) and lab (standing/sitting for prolonged periods) settings
- Bonus points: experience with trees, roots, soils, ecophysiology, data analysis, research in general
Project setting: The Morton Arboretum, with lab and field components
Conserving genetic diversity of rare trees in botanic gardens
Mentors: Sean Hoban, Emily Schumacher, Austin Koontz
Summary: This project will focus on conserving genetic diversity to ensure the resilience of threatened rare trees in botanic gardens. Among other conservation biology projects, the Hoban lab analyzes the DNA of rare species (such as Quercus hinckleyi) to determine if botanic gardens have conserved enough genetic diversity, and to improve future seed collection and botanic garden management and curation (see examples here and here). Applicants should be interested in learning and working with lab techniques for extracting and examining DNA, and/or learning and working on analyzing genetic/genomic data with computational techniques. The project focus can be tailored to more laboratory or more computational goals.
Preferred Qualifications: Prior experience with lab equipment (in any lab, such as chemistry, etc.), computer programming, or DNA analysis is beneficial but not required. Prior classes in evolution, population genetics, GIS, computer science, conservation biology, or similar are beneficial. A commitment to conserving trees, careful organization, attention to detail, and working collaboratively is appreciated.
Project setting: The Morton Arboretum with lab components.
