How to Apply

REU program applications are due on February 15, 2026.

Mentors and Project Opportunities

Each REU student is mentored by a Senior Research Scientist at Bigelow Laboratory. For examples and abstracts of REU projects from previous years, visit the sub-pages dedicated to each year.

On the program application, applicants will indicate two scientists they are interested in working with; students with questions about potential research projects are encouraged to contact the scientist leading the project. Please visit the research pages of individual scientists here.

2026 Mentors

• Steve Archer

  My primary research examines the exchange of climate relevant gases between the ocean and atmosphere. This involves trying to understand the processes, especially biological, that influence the direction and rates of gas exchange. Much of our day-to-day work is experimental and involves some form of biochemical analyses or gas measurement. Our current research varies from measuring the exchange of CO2, CH4 and DMS through sea-ice to trying to develop ways to reduce emissions of CH4 from cows.
  

  • One of the projects is linked to an NSF-funded project that aims to understand the influence of trace gas emission from the sea surface on the formation of new aerosol particles in the atmosphere. This is part of a collaborative project with colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University and you would join a team carrying out some of the fieldwork for this project in/on local waters.
    
  • The other project will examine the magnitude of local sources of CH4 to the atmosphere, with a possible focus on the tidal influence on daily emissions from estuarine habitats. This could involve using a dynamic flux chamber system, linked to a high precision CH4 and CO2 analyzer, to directly measure flux from or into salt marsh environments.

• Peter Countway

  Research in the Countway lab focuses on revealing the diversity, ecology and function of microbial communities through the application of genetic research techniques, including PCR, digital PCR, DNA and RNA Sequencing. Most recently, our work has focused on studying harmful algal and cyanobacterial blooms (HABs and Cyano-HABs, respectively) in marine and freshwater ecosystems through the investigation of environmental DNA (eDNA) - the DNA around us. Additionally, the toxins produced by these algal and cyanobacterial blooms are quantified by our lab using the immunological method known as ELISA. Ultimately, we hope to develop a better understanding of the ecological, environmental and physiological factors that lead to these toxic bloom events. Other recently-funded projects, that build off of our eDNA work, include developing portable genetic solutions to detect harmful microbes for the aquaculture industry and resource managers, tracking a transmissible cancer in softshell clams, and uncovering the diet of North Atlantic right whales - via DNA analysis of their feces. Our newest work involves deploying genetic solutions to track microbes that are strongly-associated with human and animal waste - to provide data that will contribute to solutions for improving water quality. -->

• José A. Fernández Robledo

• David Fields

  Dr. Field's is a zooplankton ecologist. The Fields' laboratory studies the role of zooplankton (eg. Copepods, lobsters and cladocerans) in transferring organic matter through the food web and in mediating bio-geochemical cycling in the oceans. Our approach is to understand how the mechanisms that occur at the level of the individual animal drive regional and global scale distribution patterns in zooplankton. View lab page. This summer, the Zooplankton ecology laboratory will have 3 potential projects. Two of the projects will involve field work using Bigelow’s research vessel. The projects will require a minimum of 6 boat days. Students will learn to collect and analyze oceanographic data and how to ID and enumerate zooplankton captured in our net tows. Students will have the opportunity to use our new FlowCam Macro to characterize size distribution of the plankton and conduct laboratory-based experiments measuring grazing rates and egg production from key copepod species. Drs. Record and Fields will co advise one of the students. Our 3rd project will be primarily lab based (with opportunities to go to sea). The student will be investigating the antennae architecture of different copepod species. The student will learn how to identify, dissect and photograph microscopic animals. Project may include time on the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and use of microcinematography.

• Maya Groner

  The quantitative marine disease ecology lab focuses on understanding drivers and impacts of population fluctuations in marine systems, particularly as they relate to disease and/or climate change. We use a variety of approaches, from field studies, to experimental manipulations, to mathematical modeling. Summer 2026 research will likely focus on understanding how thermal gradients mediate species interactions in critical intertidal habitats in the Gulf of Maine. The student will be co-mentored by members of the lab.

• Manoj Kamalanathan

  The phycosphere is a nutrient-rich microenvironment that surrounds an algal or phytoplankton cell. Characterized by elevated concentrations of dissolved organic matter, it serves as a chemical hotspot that facilitates intense biological interactions and nutrient exchange. These interactions strongly influence phytoplankton growth and health, yet remain only partially understood. This project will focus on laboratory experiments to elucidate these processes and their broader ecological significance.

  Phytoplankton have long been associated with converting light energy into organic matter through photosynthesis. This conventional notion of phytoplankton as phototrophs can be challenged as evidence from studies conducted since the 1960s indicates the existence of heterotrophy and mixotrophy metabolisms in phytoplankton. Mixotrophy in phytoplankton involves two heterotrophic processes along with phototrophy-phagotrophy and osmotrophy, and this study focuses on osmotrophy. Understanding a surface ocean ecosystem’s trophic mode-net phototrophic v. heterotrophic—has considerable implications to the biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem functioning, yet most datasets fail to examine this balance. This project will focus on laboratory experiments to measure osmotrophy in phytoplankton and their broader ecological significance.

• Melody Lindsay

  Research in our Geomicrobiology/Astrobiology Laboratory focuses on microbial dynamics, metabolisms, and activity rates of microbial communities in low-biomass and anoxic ecosystems. We use novel, state of the art techniques to generate and analyze genomic and phenomic information of microbial community diversity and function within an evolutionary framework, integrated with geochemical and physical aspects in "extreme" environments.

  Life's smallest yet most abundant cells are some of the least understood organisms, and live in environments that are often difficult to access such as the subseafloor. To investigate anaerobic microbial species and characterize the contributions of cryptic lineages to biogeochemical cycles, this internship project will span several different aspects of geomicrobiology. These will include but are not limited to: day-trip field campaigns on the R/V Bowditch to collect subseafloor sediment cores, microbial culture enrichments, measuring metabolic processes with chemical assays, and (pending student interest) could also introduce or focus on bioinformatic data processing.

• Michael Lomas

  This project will work with the Marine Algal Research Infrastructure and Accelerator (MARIA) program

• Catherine Mitchell

  In the Marine Optics Lab, we use satellites to study the ocean. Our research spans both creating ocean color remote sensing methods to measure ocean biology and biogeochemistry, and applying remote sensing methods to study changes in marine ecosystems. There are several potential projects this summer, all will involve working with satellite data and doing computer-based research, however there will likely be opportunities for some lab-based work also. See our group webpage for more details about our ongoing projects.

• Nicole Poulton

  The Poulton Lab studies phytoplankton ecology and more recently the role of mixotrophy in the oceanic carbon cycle. Dr. Poulton directs the Center for Aquatic Cytometry and uses flow cytometry to detect and enumerate cells of interest using field samples and cultured organisms. These flow cytometric tools use laser light to identify and separate cells of interest within mixed assemblages of particles (including both cells and detrital matter). For this upcoming 2026 summer season, the Poulton Lab will have an opening for one REU intern that will focus on a local (Booth Bay, ME) long term time series (over 25 years of data). In conjunction with Dr. Poulton's lab an REU student, will collect and analyze field-based observations using different computational methods. The participant will learn different laboratory techniques including: phytoplankton and bacterial analysis analysis using flow and imaging cytometry.

• Karen Stamieszkin

  Karen Stamieszkin is a plankton ecologist, with a focus on zooplankton and biogeochemical cycles. Her work includes laboratory experiments, field observations, and quantitative modeling. Current work focuses on the roles of zooplankton in carbon export, with the application of understanding marine carbon dioxide removal (ocean geoengineering) impacts. Her lab is also examining changes to the Gulf of Maine plankton food web, and what that means for energy flow, from surface to depth

• Sara Swaminathan & Douglas Rasher

  Our team is investigating how foundation‑species stress and subsequent phase shifts alter coral reef communities, with a focus on the diets of herbivorous fishes that graze algae and promote coral reef resilience and recovery. The selected REU student will work with an extensive multi‑site dataset collected throughout the Caribbean Western Atlantic and contribute to a collaborative study on trophic niche partitioning among coral reef herbivores across gradients of environmental stress. The student will use microscopy and pigment spectroscopy to quantify the relative contributions of major diet functional groups (primarily macroalgae and invertebrates). The student will receive instruction in laboratory methods, basic algal and invertebrate taxonomy, statistical methods, and data visualization.

• Benjamin Twining & Rachel Sipler

  The selected REU student will be jointly mentored by Drs. Ben Twining and Rachel Sipler while contributing to an EPA-funded research effort led by the Sipayik Environmental Department of the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Tribal Nation. This work will assess the environmental health of Passamaquoddy homeland waters by assisting with sample collection from critical fish passages, habitats, and fishing grounds, followed by laboratory preparation and analysis of water, sediment, and fin- and shellfish tissue. Working within the Twining and Sipler laboratories, the student will gain hands-on experience collecting samples, preparing them for analysis and analyzing trace metal and stable isotope samples. This opportunity is well suited for a student interested in environmental chemistry and analytical methods applied to real-world ecosystem questions.

• Reyn Yoshioka

  My work connects trophic, disease, and computational ecology to understand and model relationships in marine organisms, especially under changing environments, with diverse research questions that range from foundational to use-inspired. Research in Summer 2026 will likely involve inter- and intraspecific relationships between intertidal species in the Gulf of Maine under changing temperatures, but the topic may change due to opportunity and student interest. Depending on the project topic, the student may be co-mentored by members of the Quantitative Marine Disease Ecology Lab (led by SRS Maya Groner) and/or the Tandy Center for Ocean Forecasting (led by SRS Nick Record).

Eligibility

An REU participant must be a current undergraduate student and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or its possessions; international students and graduating seniors are not eligible for this program. An undergraduate student is defined as a student who is enrolled in a degree program (part-time or full-time) leading to a baccalaureate or associate degree. Students who are transferring from one college or university to another and are enrolled at neither institution during the intervening summer may participate under certain circumstances. See the National Science Foundation's eligibility guidelines for more information.

Students from under-represented minorities as well as students with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Applicants should have, at minimum, one year of basic biology, have taken at least one earth or ocean science course, and be in good standing with their home institution. Most REU students will have completed two or three years of college and be majoring in earth science, environmental science, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics or engineering. Prior research experience is not required, but relevant coursework and enthusiasm for conducting independent research are important. We encourage applications from non-traditional students, as well as those attending community colleges.

Proof of COVID vaccination will be required to participate in the program.

Apply

We have recently switched to a new NSF application site that will require that you sign-up and receive a NSF number. Once you have the number you can use it to apply to numerous NSF- REU programs. Please go here to create an account

BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM, YOU SHOULD HAVE THE FOLLOWING FOUR ITEMS:

• Responses to the short answer questions form.
• Names and email addresses for two references who will write a letter of recommendation, including at least one recent science instructor who can comment on your interest and commitment to self-motivated projects. Requesting references will be a part of building your applicant profile on the NSF application site and will be submitted automatically with your application to Bigelow's REU program. Letters must be submitted by February 15.
• PDF of your college transcripts (does not need to be official).

Once you have gathered the information above, please proceed to the application form. All application materials must be received by February 15. Due to the high number of applications received each year, incomplete applications will not be reviewed. All application materials should be sent to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences via the online application site. Please send questions to reu@bigelow.org.

Students who are offered a position in the Bigelow REU program will be notified between March 15 to March 30.

This REU site is funded by the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences.

Contact Information

REU Program
Dr. David Fields
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
East Boothbay, ME 04544 USA
(207) 315-2567, ext. 313
reu@bigelow.org

2026 Important Dates

• Application Period: January 1 to February 15
• Students Notified: March 15 to March 30
• Program Dates: May 26 to July 31, 2026