Opportunities for Students

SREL offers outstanding research opportunities for students, including state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, nealy 300 square miles of habitat for field research, a wide range of faculty specializations under one roof, and more than 60 years of experience in ecological research. Although SREL is operated by the University of Georgia, students from any institution are welcome.

GRADUATE PROGRAM
 
Graduate students have been an integral part of SREL from the beginning. Graduate students of Eugene Odum, SREL's founder, were among some of the earliest researchers to conduct ecological studies on the SRS. To date, over 400 M.S. and Ph.D. students have completed graduate studies at SREL. Since 1985 SREL's graduate students have won over 200 awards at regional, national, and international scientific gatherings, and many have gone on to outstanding careers in the sciences. Although many of SREL's graduate students choose to matriculate at the University of Georgia (SREL's parent institution), approximately half come from other institutions. Research is jointly supervised by the student's university research committee and an advisor at SREL. Preliminary degree requirements are completed at the student's home institution. Students interested in graduate research at SREL should contact SREL faculty in their area of study.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
 
Undergraduate students are a continuing source of pride for SREL. Since 1967, more than 600 undergraduate students from more than 275 different colleges and universities have attended SREL. More than half are admitted to graduate programs around the country, and more than 200 have become professional scientists. Most participants are upper-level (sophomore, junior, or senior) students who are considering careers in ecological and environmental disciplines. Students work alongside SREL faculty, staff, and graduate students as junior colleagues, under the direction of a primary mentor. Mentors provide students with a balance of independence and supervision that is appropriate to their development as scientists. To the greatest degree feasible, students are involved in all phases of the research, from planning and design to analysis and manuscript preparation. To date, over 170 manuscripts authored by SREL undergraduates have been published in refereed journals or symposium volumes, and many have also presented their work at scientific meetings. At present, undergraduate student support is through research grants awarded to SREL faculty. For more information view a list of currently funded projects. Interested students should contact Dr. J Vaun McArthur at mcarthur(at)srel.edu or (803) 725-5317.

CURRENT STUDENTS

	Caitlin Kupar is a rising junior in the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. She is working with Tracey Tuberville on several SREL herpetology projects, including experimental studies of contaminants in juvenile alligators, assessing deformities in larval amphibians, and trapping aquatic turtles.
	Traci Jones is a senior at Tennessee Tech majoring in Biology. She is working with Elizabeth Burgess and Gary Mills collecting and processing samples water quality and metals analysis for the H-02 constructed wetland project.
	Diana Nelson is a recent graduate of Clemson University where she earned a BS in Science Teaching. As of August 2011 she will be teaching chemistry at North Augusta High. This summer she is assisting with several amphibian ecotoxicology and gene expression studies that are part of the H-02 constructed wetland project funded by NNSA. Specifically, she is helping to investigate the effects of elevated Cu and Zn levels on the resident amphibians. Her faculty mentor is Stacey Lance.
	Zach Ross is working in the SREL Herpetology Laboratory with Whit Gibbons and Thomas Luhring. He is conducting an experiment designed to determine the mobility speed of snakes. He intends to analyze the resulting data in order to determine the significance aspects such as phylogeny and life history play in the movement speed of snakes.
	Leslie Smith is an undergraduate student at the University of Missouri majoring in fisheries and wildlife. She is is working in the SREL Herpetology Laboratory with Whit Gibbons and Thomas Luhring, studying the feeding habits and parasite ecology of greater sirens (Siren lacertina).
	Shelby Weathersbee is a freshman at the University of South Carolina-Aiken majoring in Nursing. She is working with Elizabeth Burgess and Gary Mills on the H-02 Constructed Wetland Project.