Undergraduate Opportunities
Get class credit (GEOG 491: Special Topics) while earning practical lab experience!
We are seeking undergraduate students to work in Dr. Scott Mensing's Paleoecology Lab (Department of Geography). We are currently working on reconstructing past environmental changes in vegetation and fire for the last 10,000 years in California and the Great Basin. Most of our projects are examining the effects Native American use of fire may have had on forest structure and composition.
This opportunity will give students experience in (1) lab research, (2) paleoenvironmental reconstruction techniques, and (3) data analysis. Student is not required to have any previous experience. You would be learning and working under the direction, and in support of, doctoral dissertation research.
Responsibilities include: sampling sediment cores, preparing and counting charcoal particles, weighing wet/dry sediments, calculating loss on ignition, and humification analysis using a spectrophotometer. You must be willing to learn and take direction well, as your work is integral to multiple dissertations. Following direction is key. Dangerous chemicals are used in the lab, so safety is of the utmost importance (although you will not be in direct contact with the most dangerous chemicals).
If you are interested, or have any questions, please contact Scott Mensing (smensing@unr.edu), Anna Higgins (annamariehiggins@hotmail.com), or Anna Patterson (eradani@gmail.com).
We are seeking undergraduate students to work in Dr. Scott Mensing's Paleoecology Lab (Department of Geography). We are currently working on reconstructing past environmental changes in vegetation and fire for the last 10,000 years in California and the Great Basin. Most of our projects are examining the effects Native American use of fire may have had on forest structure and composition.
This opportunity will give students experience in (1) lab research, (2) paleoenvironmental reconstruction techniques, and (3) data analysis. Student is not required to have any previous experience. You would be learning and working under the direction, and in support of, doctoral dissertation research.
Responsibilities include: sampling sediment cores, preparing and counting charcoal particles, weighing wet/dry sediments, calculating loss on ignition, and humification analysis using a spectrophotometer. You must be willing to learn and take direction well, as your work is integral to multiple dissertations. Following direction is key. Dangerous chemicals are used in the lab, so safety is of the utmost importance (although you will not be in direct contact with the most dangerous chemicals).
If you are interested, or have any questions, please contact Scott Mensing (smensing@unr.edu), Anna Higgins (annamariehiggins@hotmail.com), or Anna Patterson (eradani@gmail.com).
