Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve

Come study ecology at the University of Minnesota's Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, located only 35 miles north of the Twin Cities campus. Cedar Creek is one of the most famous and influential ecological research sites on Earth. It contains an exceptional diversity of plants and animals, partly because it is at the meeting point of the northern boreal forest, the eastern deciduous forest, and the western grasslands and savannas. Here you will visit current experiments, including studies that test how biodiversity loss affects ecosystems and whether climate change will speed up  or slow down, work with data from ongoing studies, and collaborate with other students to develop your own field ecology group project. Learn more about EEB 3407/5407 for spring 2023. 

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve is once again soliciting applications for our Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Summer Fellowships. These fellowships provide partial support for graduate students or postdoctoral researchers who would like to mentor undergraduate / post-bac student researchers working on independent summer research projects, and who are conducting research at or related to Cedar Creek. The independent summer projects mentored by Fellows are primarily focused on ecological questions and involve a mix of fieldwork and data analysis. Funding is available for up to six summer fellowships supported at 10 hours per week. Applications are strongly encouraged from graduate students or postdoc researchers who will contribute to Cedar Creek's ongoing efforts to increase the diversity of our research community, create a welcoming and inclusive climate, and contribute to the station’s other DEIJ efforts.

Together, the team of Fellows will:

• mentor 20-25 undergraduate / post-bac interns working on independent research projects throughout the summer;
• organize a research symposium and field tours in mid June in which faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students present results from their ongoing studies at Cedar Creek;
• organize a weekly lunchtime seminar series featuring research, career paths, and DEIJ topics;
• offer after-work workshops that provide formal research training on topics including proposal writing, literature review, data analysis, and presentation of research results;
• plan and execute opportunities for community-building among interns and others at Cedar Creek; and
• organize a research symposium in mid August in which intern researchers present the findings of their independent projects.

We anticipate that the majority of these activities and interactions will take place in-person at Cedar Creek, although Fellows will need to be flexible and adjust as necessary given pandemic restrictions.

Apply by 17 March 2023 by completing the survey and uploading your CV here: https://z.umn.edu/cc_summerfellows. Decisions will be made by mid April. 

Questions? Cedar Creek DEIJ Fellow Mariana Cárdenas will hold an information session about the fellowship opportunity on Friday, Feb 24th at 10am (click for zoom link; email Mariana (carde196@umn.edu) for the recording if you are unable to attend). Feel free to also reach out to Caitin Potter with questions at caitlin@umn.edu.

We welcome groups from colleges across the Midwest to come visit our research experiments and learn about ecology here at its birthplace! Our field tours are particularly valuable for courses focusing on grasslands, conservation, field biology, and general ecology. Contact Kara Baldwin (baldwink@umn.edu or 612-301-2602) to arrange a visit that meets your needs, group size and curricular focus.

Field tours and presentations range in price from $100 - $300 depending on length and program details. Self-guided tours are also available for frequent visitors and carry a $100 site use fee.