Seeking undergraduate students (2-3) to assist with a variety of wildlife based research projects. Work schedule can be flexible up to 40 hours/week over the summer and then part-time during fall semester.
LOCATION OF WORK:
Most work will occur at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction and Engineering Research Lab (CERL) where students will have the chance to acquire diverse laboratory and field skills alongside other undergraduates, graduate students, and career scientists. Depending on scheduling, occasional work may take place on the main UI campus.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Primary responsibilities will be to assist with nutritional analysis of fruit as part of a project examining frugivory of birds in Hawaii. All fruits must be catalogued, de-seeded, dried, powdered, and analyzed for carbohydrate and lipid content.
- Applicants should expect to assist with every step of this process. Other duties may include (but are not limited to) annotating videos of bird behavior, bird fecal sample analyses, animal husbandry, field mapping of bird territories, collection and analysis by GC/MS of snake fecal samples, and extraction of DNA from blood samples.
- Lab procedures involve hazardous chemicals and sensitive equipment, and additional duties may involve local travel, heavy lifting, working outdoors, and animal handling.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Organic chemistry lab experience is required; IB, MCB, or NRES lab experience is a plus. CERL is located approximately 5.5 miles from the UIUC campus and students must provide for their own transportation.
TO APPLY:
Send resume /CV and contact information for 3 references to Jinelle Sperry at jhutch@illinois.edu.