Internship 2001: Photos, Directory
The El Verde Field Station hosts an undergraduate summer research internship
in Tropical Ecology and Evolution supported by NSF under the Research Experience
for Undergraduates Program (NSF-REU) and by Institutional funds from the Summer
Internship Program of The University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras.
Researchers in this area work in a variety of ecological topics and at various
levels of organization ranging from genes to ecosystems. Mentors belong to a
variety of institutions within Puerto Rico and the Continental United States
All successful applicants are expected to conduct most of their research at
the El Verde Field Station (EVFS) in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico although
some projects may require the use of laboratory facilities at the Rio Piedras
Campus. The research area surrounding the station is composed of Tabonuco (Dacryodes)
Forest and constitutes the most studied vegetational zone in the Luquillo Experimental
Forest. A large portion of the research conducted at EVFS is supported by funding
from the National Science Foundation and the University of Puerto Rico. Since
1988, EVFS has been the host for the Luquillo Site of the NSF-Long-Term Ecological
Research Program. This program focuses on the study of disturbance regimes in
the Tabonuco Forest and the role of the biota in the recovery of tropical forest
ecosystems after disturbance. Work on the food web at EVFS by a number of scientist
has resulted in the publication of the book "The food web of a Tropical
Rain Forest and constitutes the most complete account of feeding relationships
in animal communities studied in any tropical forest so far. For more information
on EVFS you may visit our web site at http://luq.lternet.edu/about/.
Internships last 10 weeks and support research experiences in Tropical Ecology and Evolution for eight US undergraduate students and two foreign students each year. Successful applicants will engage in laborious field work under the guidance of one of 7 participating mentors. Students will also participate in a variety of activities (e.g. workshops, seminars). At the end of their internship they will master standard field techniques and equipment used in ecological studies and will become familiar with the flora and fauna of the area. Applicants should indicate three mentors of choice in order of preference.
The following researchers and projects are available to receive interns for the Summer 2002 Internship:
Dr. James D. Ackerman - Pollination Biology and Epiphyte Ecology. Pollination
of orchids, limitations to plant reproduction, evolution of deception pollination,
patterns and consequences of genetic and
morphological variation in orchid
populations.
Dr. Nicholas Brokaw.- Forest ecology. Population biology and community structure of tropical forest trees, management of tropical forests, effects of disturbances on tropical forests.
Dr. Denis Fernandez- Plant Ecophysiology - Studies of the effect of variation in abiotic factors (e.g. light environment) on the physiological responses of plants. Other interests include the occurrence of transient and chronic photoinhibition in landslides and the relationship between carbon budgets and seedling survivorship.
Dr. Elvia J. Meléndez-Ackerman - Plant Ecology and Evolution of Plant Animal Interactions. Studies on the mechanisms of evolution of floral traits and in particular whether traits are currently under the influence of natural selection. Other interests include research on the relationship between environmental gradients and distribution of herbaceous species.
Dr. Paul Klawinski - Arthropod Ecology - Studies on arthropod biodiversity and how they are related to elevational gradients. Current experiments look at the role of vertebrates at regulating herbivore abundance and primary productivity in tropical forests.
Dr. Alonzo Ramirez - Stream Ecology and Aquatic Invertebrates - Studies focus on aspects such as 1) the physical and chemical factors that affect aquatic insects, 2) how insects interact with other organisms and the function of insects in aquatic ecosystems (eg. litter decomposition, control of productivity).
Dr. Jill Thompson. - Forest dynamics - Disturbance and land use effects on community structure and dynamics of tropical forest trees.
Dr. Raymond Tremblay - Plant Population Genetics and Conservation Biology - Studies on orchid systematics, evolutionary processes and conservation of orchids in natural habitat. Studies include 1) comparing life histories of common orchid species to those of rare species in the same genus to determine the most vulnerable stages of the orchids studied, 2) effect of flashfloods on the population dynamics of riparian orchid species.
Dr. Jess K. Zimmerman -Community Ecology - Community Ecology - Studies on how land use history may have affected soil processes and tree species diversity within the Luquillo Experimental Forest.
Dr. Xioming Zou - Soil Ecology - Studies on processes that regulate the storage and fluxes of carbon across landscape in tropical forests. Some ongoing projects include: the effect of land use changes on the dynamics of soil carbon and the effect of wood and leaf input on the decomposition rates of plant litter, nitrogen mineralization, and soil respiration.