ROKS Professional Experiences

As a ROKS student, you'll not only do original research as part of your course work, you'll also choose your own project to work on as part of a professional experience (NSC 292). It's very much like an internship.

Depending on your interests, you might choose to work on sustainable agriculture, laboratory research, education, outreach at the bird sanctuary, or much more!

A few examples of the projects you may be involved in include:

Research

• Ecological Genetics
  • plant-pollinator interactions
• Behavioral Ecology
  • mate choice
  • evolution of competition and cooperation
• Impacts and Control of Invasive Species
  • zebra mussels, garlic mustard, spotted knapweed
• Community Ecology
  • causes of and importance of species diversity
  • predator-prey relationships
• Aquatic Ecology
  • modeling of parasite-host dynamics
  • role nutrients play in freshwater foodwebs
• Agricultural Ecology
  • compare methods of farming and measure impacts on the environment
  • trace the movement of nutrients through air, water, and soil

Education

• Work with local K-12 school teachers to design science modules.
• Develop educational programs for the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary
• Develop educational materials for local educational and environmental organizations

Outreach

• Water quality projects for local community groups
• Work with local farmers developing markets for locally produced food
• Developing techniques for sustainable and organic agriculture.