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Sustainability

Graduate Student Summer Internships: Integrative Approaches to Investigate Invasive Species and Landscapes

March 18, 2025

June 1-August 15 | Remote

Applications are due by March 28, 2025

The summer internship program will be led by faculty and post-docs from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras (Dr. Carla Restrepo); University of Tennessee at Knoxville (Dr. Mona Papes), University of Arkansas at Monticello (Dr. Elena Rubino), and University of Florida (Dr. S. Luke Flory and Dr. Seokim Kim).

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Program Overview

Numerous drivers of change are reshaping species distributions and species interactions, community composition, and ecosystem functions at multiple scales. The extent and complexity of these changes makes it imperative to develop approaches that integrate environmental and socio-economic dimensions to address both the causes and consequences of these large-scale shifting distributions and also inform management strategies.

Focusing on vines across a broad geographical region encompassing Puerto Rico and the southeastern United States, graduate students will contribute to data collection and data analyses. Vines are herbaceous climbing plants that are not only taxonomically and functionally diverse but also include numerous native and introduced proliferating species. The broad region encompasses dry to humid tropical biomes in the Caribbean to mesic and wet temperate biomes in the southeastern United States, a region known worldwide to be a hotspot of invasive vines. Here the spread of invasive vines may be driving large-scale ecosystem shifts, yet this possibility has been under-explored. Through these internships graduate students will gain skills and contribute to the development of:

  • Species Distribution Models (SDMs) 
  • Detection of invasive vines from hyperspectral data

Participants of this opportunity will directly contribute to a regional research project through the integration of online databases, modeling, and image analyses. At least one publication is expected, and students will be included as authors. 

Program Dates

  • 03/28/25: Application deadline
  • 04/03/25: Interview with short-listed candidates
  • 04/06/25: Notification of application status
  • 04/08/25: Accepted students notify their decision

Program Eligibility

Open to two graduate students (M.Sc. and Ph.D.), exceptional fourth year undergraduate students may be considered

Application Requirements

  • Brief statement (< 500 words) highlighting current research interests and how this experience will advance student’s interests.
  • CV/resume
  • Unofficial transcript

Compensation

A stipend of ~$3,000 per month will be provided via a grant awarded by the U.S. Geological Survey Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center through the Ideas initiative.

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Questions: Contact Dr. Carla Restrepo (crestre@hpcf.upr.edu)