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Summer Intern Program

Select REU Research Projects

  • In the field
    In the field   REU students Marc Hammond, Chris Lynum, Hannah Ehrmann, and Brittany Peachy are all smiles while spending a day in the life of a marine scientist.   Photo by Rochelle Seitz
  • Experiencing the Chesapeake
    Experiencing the Chesapeake   The REU interns kayaked with "Chesapeake Experience", a non-profit organization owned by VIMS alumna Jill Bieri.   Photo by Jennifer Dreyer
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      Melanie Schultz Peters (L) monitors her experimental tanks during her REU research project.  
  • Plankton Tow
    Plankton Tow   Summer interns collect plankton from the "cod end" of a plankton net during a field trip on the York River.  
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      VIMS graduate student Dave Hewitt shows a summer flounder to summer interns during a field trip on the York River.  
  • Microscope work
    Microscope work   Summer interns conduct some microscope work aboard the RV Bay Eagle during a field trip on the York River.  
  • York River Field Trip
    York River Field Trip   Professor Deb Steinberg (C) shows a jar of zooplankton to summer interns during their field trip on the York River.  
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  • Seine Net
    Seine Net   Summer interns learn how to use a seine net.  
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      Summer interns prepare to take a sediment core from the RV Pelican.  
  • REU Research
    REU Research   Summer Intern David James (Norfolk State University) assists VIMS researcher Mark Patterson in trials with the robotic vehicle Fetch. Patterson is using the clear, calm waters of his home swimming pool as a controlled setting to find out what blue crabs and jellyfish look like on sonar. Their research will help scientists to better understand, and perhaps someday manage, one of the most common and nettlesome residents of Chesapeake Bay.  
  • REU Research
    REU Research   Summer REU interns Cielomar Rodriguez (L, University of Puerto Rico) and Laura Twichell (R, Swarthmore College) extract a sediment core during a research cruise on the York River in 2005.  
  • REU Field Trip
    REU Field Trip   VIMS graduate student Dave Hewitt (R) shows a blue crab from a trawl net to REU students during their field trip on the York River.  
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  • Jill Ashey (2018) William & Mary, "Physiological responses in the juvenile Eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica with differing environmental histories", Mentor: Emily Rivest

  • Stacy Aguilera (2009) Stanford University, "Secondary Production of Subtidal and Intertidal Rip-Rap Shorelines of the Patuxent and Lynnhaven Rivers", Mentor: Rochelle Seitz

  • Alexandra Badia (2011) Chatham University "Examining a Contemporary Method for Monitoring the Flux of Volatile Organic Carbon across Air-Sea Interface", Mentor: Rebecca Dickhut

  • Lydia Bienlien (2012) Morningside College, "Molecular analysis of Perkinsus marinus infection acquisition in Crassostrea virginica." Mentor: Ryan Carnegie 

  • Leslie Bland (2010) James Madison University, "Studying and Comparing Chesapeake Bay 3-D Hydrodynamic Models", Mentors: Marjy Friedrichs, Carl Friedrichs

  • Robert Boyd (2014) College of William & Mary, "Atlas of lobster histology and anatomy", Mentor: Jeffery Shields

  • Jessica Braunstein (2012) Lee University, "Effects of varying shoreline times on crab and fish species: Abundance, size and juvenile blue crab survival." Mentor: Rochelle Seitz

  • James Brown (2015) Bates College, "Exchanges of heat and salt across the Mid Atlantic Bight shelf-break from the ROMS ESPRESSO Model", Mentors: Dr. Donglai Gong & Daniel Wang

  • Pearce Cooper (2012) Virginia Tech, "Determining the connectivity of cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, populations in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico using microsatellite DNA markers." Mentor: Dr. Jan McDowell

  • Cynthia Craig (2003) Morgan State University, "Nutrient limitation of phytoplankton biomass in the Gulf of Mexico", Mentor: Deborah Bronk

  • Samuel Diaz-Muñoz (2001), Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez, "Quantification of essential fish habitat at LEO 15", Mentor: Robert Diaz

  • James Douglass (2001), Rice University, "Functional differences and competitive interactions of four pericaridean crustaceans common in the submerged aquatic vegetation of Chesapeake Bay", Mentor: Emmett Duffy

  • Hannah Ehrmann (2013) Gettysburg College, "Variation in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Structure and Sediment Composition in the Tidal Freshwater Subtributaries of the York River, Mentors: Jennifer Dreyer, Linda Schaffner

  • Carolyn Ewers (2007) California Polytechnic State University, “Comparing benthic community secondary productivity in various shallow-water habitats”, Mentor: Rochelle Seitz

  • Marta Faulkner (2018) Cornell University, "Characterizing the transport pathways and storage of freshwater in the western Arctic Ocean through a HYCOM-based drifter study", Mentor: Donglai Gong

  • Bárbara García-Pérez (2001), Colegio Universitario del Este, “The role of Molgula manhattensis in water quality of the York River estuary”, Mentor: Dr. Linda Schaffner

  • Natasha Gownaris (2009) Gettysburg College, "Nitrogen Uptake Dynamics of Macroalgae and Phytoplankton in Shallow Marine Systems", Mentor: Mark Brush

  • Marc Hammond (2013) University of Massachusetts, Amherst, "The Environmental Ecology of Oyster Parasites: Identifying Waterborne Stages of Perkinsus marinus and Haplosporidium nelsoni", Mentor: Ryan Carnegie

  • Emmalynn Hicks (2018) Bryn Mawr College, "A Comparison of Methodologies for Analysis of the Silt/Clay Ratio in the James River Estuary", Mentors: Carl Friedrichs, Grace Massey, and Jessica Turner

  • Josh Himmelstein (2016) The College of William & Mary, "The Variance and History of Marsh Ponding on Goodwin Island, VA", Mentor: Dr. Matt Kirwan

  • Drew Howard (2011) University of North Carolina Wilmington, "Comparison of length-weight relationships for three fish species from the James, York, and Rappahannock rivers", Mentors: Mary C. Fabrizio, Troy Tuckey.

  • Nate Hua (2015) University of Iowa, "Impacts of microplastic and PCB pollution on microbial denitrification and community structure", mentors: Bk Song, Ashley Smyth.

  • Tiffany Hwang (2022), CA State Polytechnic University, “Effects of stingray foraging holes on predator intensity and bulk carbon storage”, Mentor: Dr. Chris Patrick

  • Cora Ann Johnston (2007) Hampshire College, “Evaluation of macroalgae (Gracilaria spp.) as alternative nursery habitat for blue crab in Chesapeake Bay using the growth rate/predation risk trade-off hypothesis: A study of survival”, Mentor: Rom Lipcius

  • Shannon Jones (2015) Northeastern University, "Toxic growth: Changes in growth and toxin production in Alexandrium fundyense when grown on nitrate, ammonium and urea sources, Mentors: Juliette Smith, Taylor Armstrong 

  • Madeline Karp (2012) The College of William & Mary, "Comparison of insect diversity in three marshes in the Pamunkey River." Mentors: Jim Perry, Lori Sutter

  • Rebecca Kolkmeyer (2014), University of Virginia, "Bivlaves and Eutrophication", Mentors: Annie Murphy, Iris Anderson

  • Jonathan Lefcheck (2008) Colby College, “Factors affecting trophic control of community structure and ecosystem functioning in experimental seagrass mesocosms”, Mentor: Emmett Duffy

  • Chanté Lively (2019), Nova Southeastern University, “Salinity and pH effects on blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, cuticle layer structure”, Mentor: Dr. Rochelle Seitz

  • Sean Lusk (2012) Virginia Tech, "Occurrence and growth rate of juvenile southern flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma, in the Chesapeake Bay." Mentor: Eric Hilton

  • Soley Luyando Flusa (2018), "Changing Depositional Environments of the Upper Chesapeake Bay in Response to European Colonization and Implications for Oyster Populations", Mentors: Chris Hein and Jenn Connell

  • Phillip Matich (2006) University of South Carolina, “Migration rates of invertebrate grazers in eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds: Variation with species, time, and distance among patches”, Mentor: Emmett Duffy

  • Joseph Matt (2012) Wake Forest, "The effect of tetraploid mosaicism on triploid progeny of Crassostrea virginica. Mentor: Stan Allen

  • Tim Montgomery (2004) College of William and Mary, “Sediment organic matter abundance in eelgrass beds of the York River”, Mentor: Elizabeth Canuel

  • Julia Moriarty (2008) University of Chicago, “The effect of seasonal variation on sediment transport and deposition on a collision margin: the Umpqua River”, Mentors: Tara Kniskern, Courtney Harris

  • Emilee Mroz (2006) St. Lawrence University, “Physical versus biological controls on seabed erodibility in a muddy, partially mixed estuary”, Mentor: Carl Friedrichs

  • John Nichols (2002) UNC Chapel Hill, "Evaluating the biological integrity of wetlands through floristic quality assessments", Mentors: Jim Perry, Jim Kirkley

  • Brittany Peachey (2013) Grove City College, "Evaluation of cytochalasin B and 6-dimethylaminopurine for tetraploidy induction in the Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica", Mentor: Dr. Stan Allen

  • Sabrina Ramirez (2012) Old Dominion University, "Community structure of tidal freshwater benthic communities associated with the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea, in the tributaries of the York River." Mentors: Jennifer Dreyer, Linda Schaffner

  • Corelle Rokicki (2015) Eckerd College, "In vivo replication kinetics in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus and Flavobacterium psychrophilum, Mentors: Andrew Wargo

  • Nyanza Rothman (2010) Vassar College, "Trace Metal Cycling in an Algal Floway System", Mentors: Aaron Beck, Elizabeth Canuel

  • Amanda Salmoiraghi (2021), Purchase College, “Determining relatedness of juvenile Atlantic Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) in Chesapeake Bay using microsatellite markers”, Mentor: Dr. Jan McDowell
  • Isaiah Sanders (2018) Chowan College, "Characterizing Candidate Loci for Local Adaptation in Speckled Trout (Cynoscion Nebulosus) Populations along the U.S. East Coast", Mentors: Jan McDowell and Jingwei Song

  • Matthew Schliep (2014) College of William & Mary, "The role of ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa) in living shorelines: Settlement and potential for influencing nutrient cycling", Mentors: Dr. Donna Bilkovic, Molly Mitchell, Robert Isdell

  • Ryan Scott (2008) Old Dominion University, “The uses of acoustic doppler velocimeter measurements to infer the evolution of seabed erodibility in the York River Estuary”, Mentor: Carl Friedrichs

  • Margaret Simon (2007) Haverford College, “Seasonal sediment erodibility and tidal effects in an idealized numerical model of the York River Estuary”, Mentor: Courtney Harris

  • Cristin Wright (2016) Maine Maritime Academy, "Physical Properties of Sediment and Abundance of Resilient Muddy Fecal Pellets Along the York River, Virginia", Mentors: Dr. Grace Massey, Dr. Carl Friedrichs

  • Elizabeth Wallace (2014) University of Virginia, "Interannual variability of temperature, salinity, and shelf-water volume in the Middle Atlantic Bight from 1977 to 2013", Mentor: Dr. Donglai Gong

  • Thalia Wallace (2019), Community College of Philadelphia, “Red Disease and antibiotic resistance of American eels”, Mentors: Amanpreet Kohli & Dr. Andrew Wargo

  • Spencer Weinstein (2015) University of Massachusetts Amherst, " Characterization of blueline tilefish (Caulolatilus microps microsatellite loci: A genetic investigation of geographic connectivity", Mentors: Jan McDowell, Heidi Brightman

  • Stephanie Wilson (2016) Saint Francis University, "Impacts of Industrial Poultry Contamination on Sediment Denitrifying Communities", Mentor: B.K. Song