Open Opportunities in Summer 2025

Timothy O'Neil — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 05:20:00 +0000

Open Opportunities in Summer 2025 Timothy O'Neil Thu, 04/24/2025 - 23:20

Antiracist Community Organizing in Denver and 91�� (continued)

Contact: Sabrina Sideris, sabrina.sideris@colorado.edu

The INVST Program seeks two researchers for a paid position to conduct a systematic survey of grassroots organizers in Denver/91��. Using a definition of “antiracist community organizing,” the researchers will map the organizers and types of ecological/social progress for which they agitate. Researchers need not have prior experience with antiracism or community organizing. INVST will provide training, mentorship, and regular supervision. Local travel (by RTD bus or personal car) will expose junior scholars to diverse people and places. Researchers will learn about intersectional social movements, differing approaches to change-making, and an array of organizing tactics. They will learn more about social/environmental problems in 91��/Denver, including environmental racism, food insecurity, housing inaccessibility, and migrant exclusion.Training for these positions will take place in late May 2025 and research activities will conclude in late July 2025. Researchers will present findings to INVST Advisory Circle, and be paid a $1,500 stipend.

Changing Skies: Writing Through the Climate Crisis

Contact: Jay Ellis, jay.ellis@colorado.edu

As a CU Undergraduate student, you can join the Hindsight staff and earn credit hours. Upperclassmen can take the practicum course WRTG 3095-001 for three credit hours. For underclassmen or those who can't attend the practicum time, you can take a one to three credit hour, upper or lower-division internship, provided you have at least 30 completed credit hours. We also offer volunteer positions for Graduate students and undergraduates who can't take WRTG 3095-001 or an internship. If you're interested in joining staff, add WRTG 3095-001 Journal Publishing to your course schedule or reach out to faculty advisor Dr. Jay Ellis (Jay.Ellis@colorado.edu) for information on taking an internship. See a video about what it’s like to be on staff on our website—and read our journal to see what you’ll help publish.

Impact Playback Theater Ensemble: Summer Outreach Leadership Training & Residency

Contact: James Walker, walkerjf@colorado.edu

91��’s IMPACT PLAYBACK Theatre Ensemble conducts residencies and performances across the state, using improvised forms of theater, music and movement to connect audiences and promote understanding across difference. For Summer 2025, we seek one or more student interns with demonstrated skills in one or more of the following areas: graphic design, marketing and communication (including social media); organization, communication and event planning; budgeting/accounting. Performance positions also available; no experience required; all training provided. For all positions: Background or strong interest in justice and equity issues highly valued. Crucial to our mission is the ability to honor stories from all members of our diverse audiences. Students, faculty and staff of all backgrounds, identities and skill levels are encouraged to inquire.

Eyes of Freedom VR and the Future of Virtual Memorials

Contact: Pat Clark, patrick.r.clark@colorado.edu

The Eyes of Freedom VR project offers undergraduates a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in immersive storytelling, 3D modeling and scanning as well as virtual reality development. Students will collaborate on a groundbreaking project that preserves the legacy of fallen service members through innovative digital memorialization. No prior experience is required—just curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to learn. Participants will develop technical and research skills, contribute to an impactful project and help engage veterans and educators to enhance accessibility and emotional resonance. This project fosters an inclusive learning environment, prioritizing mentorship, flexibility and diverse perspectives. Team members will receive structured guidance while also having the freedom to explore creative problem-solving. Whether interested in digital media, history, or public engagement, this grant provides an opportunity to build meaningful skills, expand professional networks, and contribute to a project with lasting social impact. Join us in shaping the future of virtual memorialization!

Development and Building of Community Exhibits around Water topics in the Four Corners Region

Contact: Anne Gold, anne.u.gold@colorado.edu

Are you passionate about hands-on design, environmental topics, and community engagement? Our UROP Team Grant offers undergraduate students a unique opportunity to co-create interactive exhibits focused on water topics in rural, diverse communities in the Four Corners region. Over the 10-week summer program, students will gain experience in exhibit design, fabrication, and science communication, working in 91��’s engineering design labs. No prior experience is required—just creativity, curiosity, and a desire to learn! Students will collaborate with engineers, designers, and cultural leaders to transform community-driven ideas into public exhibits that will be permanently displayed in local libraries. This is an excellent opportunity for students interested in museum studies, environmental design, industrial design, architecture, and public engagement. If you're looking for a paid summer research experience where you can apply your skills to a real-world project with lasting impact, we encourage you to apply! Contact us for more details!

White Space Study

Contact: Shawhin Roudbari, shawhin@colorado.edu

How can the architecture of our spaces be racist? Join our interdisciplinary research team to investigate white supremacy and racism inherent in architectural design. Undergraduate researchers on this project will be trained in theories and methods of race and space studies. You will conduct “walk-shops” with members of the 91�� campus community, where you will facilitate a participant-led tour of campus while discussing the participants’ stories of racialization. Through these walk-shops, you will collect textual and visual data. You will learn to analyze this data through methods of qualitative content analysis. The research team, Dissent by Design, will produce an exhibit and/or conference paper based on the findings of this research. This work will develop theoretical and methodological contributions in social and spatial justice efforts. We seek interdisciplinary, critical, and engaged undergraduate researchers for work on this project during the summer of 2025.

The Nomological Network: Integrating the Psychological Sciences

Contact: Kai Larsen, kai.larsen@colorado.edu

Artificial intelligence is a rapidly growing field that will reshape a great deal of science, particularly in areas which rely heavily on large amounts of data being interpreted. Students working with this research team have the opportunity to learn in this area which will likely affect them moving forward in their respective fields. It also provides experience being on a research team, working together with a wide variety of moving parts, and having a senior supervisor watching their work. Both of these are important for students moving forward in research, as most research is conducted with other people, and this provides an opportunity to familiarize oneself with aspects of teamwork, leadership, and contribution. It is also necessary to familiarize oneself with working with a supervisor, to learn how to listen and learn, as well as to know when to stand up for one’s ideas and act as a leader.

Pollinator inventory and management in Colorado and Dinosaur National Monuments

Contact: Megan Blanchard, megan.blanchard@colorado.edu

Help the Entomology section of CU's Museum of Natural History inventory pollinators for Colorado and Dinosaur National Monuments! We are hiring two students to assist with the preparation of bee specimens collected at the national monuments. Students will learn to pin, label, and photograph insect specimens, manage specimen databases, and will work with a variety of bee species from Western Colorado. The data collected from these specimens will be used to construct plant-pollinator interaction networks and to evaluate invasive plant and grazing management at the parks. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in entomology, museum collections, or how museum collections are used for applied ecological research.

How Do Children Learn About Earth Science Through Interactive, Spherical Visualizations?

Contact: Grace Bennett-Pierre, grace.bennett-pierre@colorado.edu

Interested in how children learn about Earth science in museums? Join a research team to study peer and caregiver-child interactions when learning from NOAA’s Science On a Sphere (SOS) at Fiske Planetarium. Using qualitative research methods, you’ll explore how families engage with interactive Earth science visualizations in an informal learning environment. This opportunity will provide hands-on experience in developmental psychology research, STEM learning in informal environments, and qualitative data analysis. You will also gain valuable research skills such as study design, literature search, and creating a research poster. We welcome students from psychology, neuroscience, education, or other social science. Coursework in statistics or research methods are a plus, but not required- just bring your curiosity and enthusiasm for learning research.

Enhancing Community Resilience through Scenario-Based Role-Play Games

Contact: Anne Gold, anne.u.gold@colorado.edu

Join an interdisciplinary team developing scenario-based role-play games for K-12 classrooms to build awareness around environmental hazards like drought, wildfire, and floods. This project blends game design, environmental science, and multimedia storytelling to create an engaging, educational tool that empowers youth and educators. Students will gain hands-on experience in game development, science communication, and environmental education, working alongside scientists, emergency managers, teachers, and community partners. Tasks include researching resilience strategies, designing game scenarios, and developing multimedia content. This paid summer internship (5-10 weeks, ~10-20 hours/week) is ideal for students interested in environmental studies, education, communication, or game design. Experience in curriculum development or multimedia content creation is helpful but not required. Students will work in a collaborative, mentored environment, contribute to real-world educational tools, and gain professional experience with opportunities for conference presentations and public engagement. Contact us for details!

Affordable Housing: Barriers and Effective Policies

Contact: Abby Hickcox, hickcox@colorado.edu

Apply to join the Center for Housing Research and Education in our research project interviewing 91�� County and Front Range residents about their experiences with affordable housing. Researchers will use qualitative methods (interviews and focus groups) to gain insight into what societal structures exclude people from housing and what potential policy solutions can address the problem.

Give Us the Camera Presents : An Open Access Digital Humanities Publication on Equity in Media Arts

Contact: laura conway, conwaylr@colorado.edu

Are you passionate about cinema, photography, anime, or the media arts? Are you committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry? Join GUT-C!, a student-led initiative at 91�� focused on creating equitable and inclusive media practices. This project will allow you to develop digital content, host workshops, and collaborate with industry professionals, all while contributing to an open-access digital publication. As part of the team, you'll gain hands-on experience in media production, community-building, and leadership while shaping the future of the media arts!

Characterizing the effect of zinc on breast cancer cells.

Contact: Amy Palmer, amy.palmer@colorado.edu

This project involves multiple undergrad students exploring the mechanism of why breast cancer cells hyper-proliferate in high zinc compared to normal mammary cells and why some breast cancer cell lines die in low zinc. The project will enable students to acquire skills in culturing human cells, transfecting cells with fluorescent reporters, and using fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence activated cell cytometry to analyze mechanisms of cell death and proliferation. Individual students will have the opportunity to explore a different breast cancer cell line. Students will also gain skills in maintaining lab notebooks, giving research presentation, quantitative image analysis, and error analysis.

Reducing grassland wildfire hazard in 91��: looking into the past to inform future management

Contact: Katharine Suding, suding_lab@colorado.edu

More houses are destroyed by grassland wildfire than by forest fires in the U.S. Here in 91��, reducing the risk posed by grassland wildfires is a top priority; however, we still don’t know whether management actions to reduce fire risk are effective in the long-term or have negative impacts on biodiversity. We’re looking for undergraduates interested in an exciting research experience focused on understanding how to manage fire in local grasslands. This project involves researching historical records of grassland management, measuring vegetation structure, and identifying grassland plant species. Our results will help local open space agencies determine how to best manage grasslands to reduce fire hazard while also conserving biodiversity. We encourage students from a diversity of backgrounds to apply! No prior research experience is required – all training will be provided. We are looking for students with an excitement for fire ecology and applied research regardless of experience level.

Anticipating climate and grazing effects in local working grasslands: Introducing students to ecological change research

Contact: Katharine Suding, Suding_lab@colorado.edu

Summer PAID research in field ecology: Are you interested in ecology, plant science, or conservation, and looking for the first opportunity to gain professional experience? We seek two part-time research assistants to carry out a new project in 91��’s grasslands over summer 2024 (May–Aug).
You will help answer important questions in basic and applied ecology. With a projected increase in drought frequency, together we will seek to understand how drought and grazing affect the long term abundances of plant species. This research will help us conserve our natural grasslands through the coming climate change.
No experience is necessary. We strongly encourage students underrepresented in STEM, first year students, and transfer students to apply. Students should be interested in developing some of the following skillsets: accessing/reading relevant scientific literature, experimental design, data collection and management (in field and laboratory settings), data analysis, and science communication.

Extreme environment testing for the Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone distributed sensor network

Contact: Barbra Sobhani, barbra.sobhani@colorado.edu

The Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone (GLEE) is a scientific and technological mission that is developing small and inexpensive sensor packages (LunaSats) that can be deployed on the surface of Moon, in order to provide a platform for students from around the world to actively do lunar science. Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC) is currently facilitating an online workshop for student teams around the world to learn how to configure, program and utilize LunaSats. To prepare for lunar deployment, our CU GLEE LunaSat and Science teams will be testing the technology readiness and scientific applicability of our LunaSat sensor network through lab and field testing.

Research into the health implications of wildland fires within Colorado

Contact: Colleen Reid, Colleen.Reid@colorado.edu

We seek undergraduate research assistants for Summer 2025 to help us work on various projects related to the health impacts of wildland fire smoke across Colorado. Research assistants will participate reviewing scientific literature, doing data analysis, and the scientific process while being guided and mentored by professional researchers who are respected in their fields. During this summer research experience, you may work on one of the following projects: analyzing data about wildfire smoke and how it affects children’s health at their home and school; understanding perceptions of prescribed fire among Coloradans as a way to decrease the risks of wildfire; analyzing interview and survey data about physical and mental health impacts of the Marshall Fire. Students interested in atmospheric and air quality science, public health, epidemiology, and community-engaged research are encouraged to apply. Students are paid hourly for their work on the project.

Design As Protest Collective Chapbooks: Learning from our Design Justice Demands

Contact: Sophie Chien, sophie.chien@colorado.edu

This opportunity will allow students to engage with a project in its inception, giving them access to a team of dedicated and passionate professionals and academics working for design justice. It will expose them to experimental publications and manage budgets and distribution of print media. They will also get folded into the DAP Collective, and understand how movement work is conducted.

Understanding Plant Composition Impacts using a Small Bison Herd in Colorado

Contact: Karen Bailey, karen.bailey@colorado.edu

Are you interested in field ecology? Looking to gain experience over the summer? The WELS Group is seeking two students to serve as research assistants investigating how bison impact plant communities at Genesee Park, Colorado. Research assistants will work with a small team collecting data on plant communities to assess how bison impact species composition. Those who will be successful in this role will be organized and detail oriented, and comfortable in physically demanding and challenging conditions, including working long days, hiking 6-8 hours through medium to difficult terrain in high temperatures, and at times being in the vicinity of large mammals. This opportunity is great for those looking for field and research experience! Training on plant identification, field protocols, safety plans, and other relevant preparation will be provided at the start of the summer to ensure a successful field season. Thanks for your interest in this position!

Insect Diversity and Abundance in Apple Tree as Ecosystem Service Study

Contact: Lisa Corwin, lisa.corwin@colorado.edu

The REACH lab is recruiting one to two undergraduate students to conduct research during the summer of 2025. Students will work with the 91�� Apple Tree Project (BATP) alongside other undergraduate and graduate students to study the diversity and abundance of soil invertebrates, including setting pitfall traps in the field, identifying the order and family of collected insects, and cataloguing these observations. Students will also be involved in community engagement and outreach related to the BATP. No experience is required or expected for in field research or entomological identification. We just expect enthusiasm!

Trees for a cooler 91��: finding the best species for heat reduction

Contact: Laura Dee, Laura.Dee@colorado.edu

Are you an undergraduate student interested in nature within cities and looking for an exciting research experience? Our lab is looking for passionate students interested in working on a project investigating which tree species provide the most heat reduction benefits in 91��. This project will involve collecting data on tree species traits (for example, canopy size, height, and leaf adaptations) and temperatures in the urban environment to understand the cooling effect of various tree species. This project is conducted in collaboration with the City of 91��, and data will inform the selection of species to include in the City’s tree planting efforts. We encourage students from a diversity of backgrounds to apply! No prior research experience is required – all necessary training will be provided. We are looking for students with an excitement for urban environments and plant ecology regardless of experience level.

Warmer, greener mountain lakes: what are the consequences for carbon cycling?

Contact: Isabella Oleksy, isabella.oleksy@colorado.edu

This Team Grant is an opportunity for undergraduates who want to refine their field and lab skills or explore a new field while working in the beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park. This project will give students extensive experience in lake sampling field methods and water chemistry lab analyses. For students who are interested and motivated, there is a chance to take the lead on an aspect of the project, which could be developed into a presentation or senior thesis. Undergraduate researchers will be surrounded by a supportive group of fellow undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs with different backgrounds who can help answer questions about jobs, graduate school, or science in general. This experience will have a strong emphasis on learning how to collect and analyse quality scientific data with a goal of giving students applicable skills to help them thrive in future positions.

Exploring the biochemical connections between flower and fruit color diversity across flowering plants

Contact: Stacey Smith, stacey.d.smith@colorado.edu

Learn about how flower and fruits get their colors! Students are invited to apply to join a collaborative effort to capture the diversity of flower and fruit pigments using samples from our own backyards. Our goal is to sample as many species as possible to contribute to a new global database for plant pigmentation and explore the hypothesis that fruit colors are shaped by the color of the flower from which they develop. Students are not expected to bring prior experience in plant biochemistry, although an interest in plants and their biology is a great start!

Aerial Insights into 91�� Grasslands: Investigating Climate Change Impacts on Grassland Ecosystems

Contact: Katharine Suding, suding_lab@colorado.edu

The 91�� Drought Project is seeking two undergraduate student researchers to assist with the monitoring of an experimental grassland in southern 91�� for 6-10 hours per week from May to August 2025. A drought experiment was established in 2018 and your help will be critical to understanding how climate change driven droughts affect grasslands! We are looking for students who are enthusiastic about learning quantitative methods (for example coding, statistics, GIS, drones!) for ecological research, however no experience is necessary. You can expect to work on experimental design, drone data collection, data entry, data quality checking, data analysis, and science communication. We strongly encourage students underrepresented in STEM to apply.

UROP invites 91�� undergraduates to join a team of students working with faculty on a wide range of projects in many majors.

To participate:

Contact project mentors directly using the email addresses included in the project descriptions. We strongly encourage you to take the time to write unique emails to each mentor—if you plan to reach out about multiple projects. Additionally, we recommend including

What interests you about the project.
All the skills/experience you bring to the project.
How the opportunity advances your academic/professional goals.
Other information requested in the project descriptions.

Note: Unless requested in the project description, mentors do NOT expect you to include a resume/CV with your email.

Academic Year Open Opportunities

Some projects might offer opportunities to continue into next Academic Year.

Issue: 2025 Summer & 2025-26 Academic Year UROP Grants

Explore funded, open opportunities mentored by 91�� faculty!

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2025 Summer & 2025-26 Academic Year UROP Grants

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