Past and Present REU Projects
Hundreds of REU students have completed the program at Blandy
Browse past projects, read advice from alumni, and check out our social media posts featuring some of our recent students: Jaya, Syntyche, Zane, Skye, and Lindsey
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The mentors available in summer 2027 and their current plans for undergraduate research projects are described below. You can find more information about the mentors by clicking on their names.
Genetic resistance of tree species to environmental extremes – Meghan Blumstein (Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences and Architecture, University of Virginia). The Blumstein lab examines resilience of trees to stressors such as extreme drought or fungal pathogens. We use a mixture of common gardens, experiments, and modeling to understand how shifting climate may impact tree growth and mortality and how interventions like assisted migration may enable populations to adapt faster. At Blandy specifically, we are testing how populations collected from across the range of northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) fare under experimental drought and flooding conditions. REU students will gain experience collecting physiological data in the field (common garden, dry down/flooding experiments) and utilizing R to conduct data analysis.
Salt pollution impacts on plant-pollinator interactions – David Carr (Research Professor of Environmental Sciences and Director of Blandy Experimental Farm, University of Virginia). The Carr lab investigates the ways in environmental and genetic stresses (reduced variation) affect plant-insect interactions. Road salt is one of the most ubiquitous anthropogenic environmental contaminants and can have complex effects on terrestrial food webs. Sodium tends to be toxic to plants, but terrestrial herbivores and pollinators commonly fail to get sufficient sodium from their plant-based diets. REU students will design and conduct greenhouse and field experiments that examine the direct and interactive effects of excess sodium on plant-insect interactions. The systems used by Carr permit full life-cycle experiments over a 10-week summer, teaching students data collection on plants, herbivores, pollinators, and other mutualists. Students will learn data analysis and coding in R and how to communicate results to scientific peers.
Ecosystem processes, secondary succession, and invasive plant species – Howie Epstein (Sidman P. Poole Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia). The Epstein lab has been studying post-agricultural ecosystem secondary succession since 2000 at Blandy. Major ecosystem stressors likely determine the trajectory of secondary succession, potentially slowing, altering, or even halting succession to pre-cultivation temperate forests. These stressors are reduced soil fertility and nutrient availability post-agriculture, and the dominance of invasive species, particularly invasive shrubs that form dense canopies and have allelopathic properties. We have recently used field-, drone-, and satellite-based techniques to identify invasive plant species and their traits remotely. We also utilize these varied techniques to study ecosystem processes, such as carbon and nitrogen cycling throughout different stages of succession. Finally, we participate in a global network study (DRAGNet), which examines how grassland ecosystems (in our case, early successional) respond to disturbances and nutrient additions. REU students can gain experience in field sampling and laboratory processing of vegetation and soils, and potentially remote sensing of vegetation and soil processes, along with appropriate data analysis techniques.
Environmental stressors in insect-plant communities – Rebecca Forkner (Associate Professor of Biology, George Mason University). The Forkner lab investigates how environmental stressors, in particular anthropogenic changes to biological diversity or to abiotic regimes, alter plant physiology, chemistry, and phenology in ways that feedback to insect growth, survival, social behavior, or population size. REU students will have the freedom to research insects and arthropods from a variety of taxa (e.g., Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Araneidae). Students will become adept at the design, execution, and interpretation of experiments, the identification of insects, and the basics of laboratory chemistry, while answering pressing questions related to the protection of insects in both natural and human-dominated landscapes.
Color-mediated brood parasitism – Daniel Hanley (Assistant Professor of Biology, George Mason University). The Hanley Color Lab investigates how color mediates interactions between populations. Students will learn how to design experiments that consider the color perception of animals that see the world differently than we do. The lab emphasizes antagonistic interactions between avian brood parasites and their hosts, where brood parasites lay eggs in unrelated host nests and hosts often use color to detect and remove those eggs. These brood parasites are serious biotic stressors for hosts, which must recognize and respond to parasitic eggs. Students will explore the perceptual and cognitive bases of decisions, and how optimal decisions may be traded off against environmental factors such as light and temperature. Students will gain transferable skills in managing multivariate datasets, conducting spectroscopy, designing experiments, and analyzing biological data.
Ecology of the roadside environment: artificial light at night and salt pollution – Kyle Haynes (Research Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia). The Haynes lab investigates insects and plants and how they affected when they come into contact with built environments. For example, students have investigated how artificial light at night affects insect abundances via effects on movement, mating, and feeding behaviors. For the upcoming summer, Haynes hopes to collaborate with a student to investigate how plants are affected by stressful factors that co-occur in roadside environments: salt toxicity from road deicing and artificial light at night. Students can learn broadly applicable skills in experimental design, statistical analysis, and interdisciplinary science communication, and gain experience working on topics of vital ecological importance.
Biotic stress from invasive bees – Kathryn LeCroy (Assistant Professor of Biology, Rhodes College). The LeCroy Lab investigates how invasive mason bee species act as biotic environmental stressors in urban, agricultural, and natural ecosystems. These invasions can displace native bees through competition, pathogen spillover, and altered resource dynamics. Students will develop independent research questions assessing native bee richness and health outcomes. Students will develop skills in taxonomy, GIS, and field work while engaging with a 200+ member community science network across Virginia, consequently developing impactful transferable skills in science communication and project management.
Environmental soil stressors on plants – Justin Richardson (Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia). The Richardson lab focuses on soil biogeochemistry in plant-soil-invertebrate connections in the Critical Zone. REU students will conduct quantitative field- and laboratory-based biogeochemical analyses of soils, plants, and invertebrates. Projects focus on nutrient-limitations, toxic element abundance, and soil water stressors on agriculturally and ecologically important annual and woody plants driven by human activities, invasive earthworms, and variable precipitation. Students will engage in quantitative chemical and biological analyses, analytical chemical equipment, and theoretical concepts of the plant-soil system.
Ecological factors governing wild bee populations – T’ai Roulston (Research Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences and Curator of Blandy Experimental Farm, University of Virginia). The Roulston lab examines environmental stressors on wild bee species, including abiotic stressors in anthropogenic landscapes and the complex interactions between bees and their parasites. Students will explore the interface between natural history, biology, and the environment, testing how particular factors could influence population trends in study species. Students will gain confidence in posing research questions, crafting experimental approaches to answering them, analyzing data, and presenting results. This summer, Roulston hopes to work with a student to further understand how bumble bee colonies cope with fatal parasites that can routinely infect over 80% of their workers.