Undergraduate Summer Research Awards
Summer research awards provide paid employment opportunities for students to participate in scientific research at Dalhousie during the summer. If you would like to gain research experience in an academic setting, these awards can provide you with financial support.
Closing date January 26, 2024.
Click here for 2024 Student Application
Click here for 2024 Supervisor Application
For more information, click here, or you may contact:
USRA Coordinator: Carly Buchwald
Fax: (902) 494-3877
E-mail: cbuchwald@dal.ca
NSERC USRA Projects in Oceanography for Summer 2024:
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Supervisor: Dr. Markus Kienast; markus.kienast@dal.ca
Project Title: Oceans and Global Change
Project Description: The ocean initiates, amplifies and mediates global climate change on time-scales ranging from less than a year to thousands of years. Understanding the ocean’s past variability - recorded in the sedimentary archive – is thus of paramount importance for climate science.
Expected skills to be acquired: Students in my lab get to use different analytical techniques to extract from the sedimentary record detailed information on the ocean of the past. See www.oceanbiogeochem-atdal.org for more. ______________________________________________________________________________
Supervisor: Dr. Sarah Fortune; sarah.fortune@dal.ca
Project Title: Bowhead whale photo-ID with aerial drone imagery
Project Description: Aerial images were obtained of bowhead whales in Cumberland Sound, NU from 2016-2023 using various unmanned aerial systems (i.e., drones). However, site fidelity and population size are currently unknown. The student will assist with photo-identifying unique individuals based on the presence of scars and pigmentation patterns and will match individuals across sampling years.
Expected skills to be acquired: The student will develop experience in large whale photo-identification, database management and mark-recapture modelling. The findings will be summarized in a report with possibility of publication.
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Supervisor: Dr. Carly Buchwald; cbuchwald@dal.ca
Project Title: Nitrogen requirements for optimal kelp seed production
Project Description: This student will help design and set up experiments for testing the nutrient (mainly nitrogen) requirements for kelp seed growth. The student will analyze the samples for nutrients including, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and phosphate. The student will prepare kelp samples for nutrient analysis as well.
Expected skills to be acquired: The student will learn how to conduct laboratory chemical analysis of four major oceanic nutrients. Additionally the student will learn how to design experiments, and analyze data.
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Supervisor: Dr. Katja Fennel; katja.fennel@dal.ca
Project title: The biological carbon pump in the Labrador Sea
Project Description: As the sun shines down on the ocean, phytoplankton photosynthesize organic matter from carbon dioxide at the ocean’s surface. The Earth’s gravity causes this newly-produced carbon to eventually sink deep into the ocean, where it is stored away from the atmosphere on timescales of months to millennia. For this USRA project, the student will investigate this process in a polar sea using data collected by sea-going robots called Biogeochemical-Argo floats.
Expected skills to be acquired: The student will gain familiarity with oceanographic sensor data collected by robotic instrumentation, namely data from the international Biogeochemical-Argo program (https://biogeochemical-argo.org/). The student will learn computer programming (Python and/or MATLAB) and an understanding of standard methods in biological oceanography. The results of this work may be presented as a written report with potential for publication.
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Supervisor: Dr. Christopher Algar; chris.algar@dal.ca
Project Title: Can microbial fuel cells remove mal odour compounds from recirculating aquaculture systems?
Project Description: Land based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are viewed as a sustainable alternative to open pen aquaculture. However, RAS are plagued by the accumulation of mal odour components, such as geosmin, which can give the raised fish an “earthy” unappetizing flavour. A laboratory experiment will be conducted to test whether microbial fuel cells can prevent the accumulation of geosmin in effluent from a land based RAS.
Expected skills to be acquired: The student will acquire skills in experimental design, environmental analytical chemistry, microbiology, and data processing using the R language. Results of the experiment will be presented in a written report with the possibility of publication.
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Supervisor: Dr. Christopher Algar; chris.algar@dal.ca
Project Title: Dissolution of OAE feedstocks in coastal marine sediments.
Project Description: Ocean alkalinization enhancement is a geoengineering approach that involves the addition of alkaline mineral particles to the ocean to increase its buffering capacity and capacity to absorb CO2. It is likely many of the added particles will settle on the sediments where they will undergo dissolution. The student will conduct a series of experiments to examine how the dissolution of potential mineral OAE feedstocks will interact with the natural sediment carbonate cycle.
Expected skills to be acquired: The student will acquire skills in experimental design, sediment geochemistry, carbonate chemistry, and data processing using the R language. Results of the experiment will be presented in a written report with the possibility of publication.
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