When applying for the CICOES REU, you will be asked to identify your top five choices. The application is available on the NSF ETAP website from January 3 to January 31, 2025.

1. The impact of iron bioavailability to phytoplankton and bacteria growth in the North Equatorial Pacific

Dr. Travis Mellett, UW School of Oceanography

This project will focus on understanding how the bioavailability of iron impacts the microbial community of the North Equatorial Pacific Ocean. This work is part of the larger Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes (SCOPE) Gradients project, which aims to compare in-situ observations of nutrients, trace metals and the microbial community to model predictions based on the MIT-DARWIN ecosystem model. Samples were collected on two research expeditions to the Equatorial Pacific, and the intern will analyze organic iron-binding ligand samples from these expeditions from both surface and mesopelagic waters to address two main hypotheses: 1) Changes in the chemical composition of the trace nutrient iron impacts iron availability to the phytoplankton community; and 2) The degree of iron availability relative to carbon impacts the growth and carbon consumption of the mesopelagic heterotrophic bacteria community. To address these hypotheses, the intern will analyze organic iron-binding ligand samples using established voltammetric and mass spectrometry techniques. The intern will also assist in laboratory culturing experiments with model heterotrophic bacteria strains using an in-house chemostat culturing set-up. At the end of the internship, the student will have gained skills in analytical chemistry, trace metal clean and sterile techniques, and basic coding in R Studio.

Skills and requirements:

• Basic laboratory skills (pipetting, weighing reagents)
• Basic analytical chemistry skills (calculating concentration, consideration of blanks and detection limits)

Work style/location: A mix of office-based computer work and lab work on UW’s campus.

2. Sockeye salmon ecosystem research in Bristol Bay, Alaska

Dr. Daniel Schindler, UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

The Alaska Salmon Program has been studying anadromous salmon and their ecosystems in Alaska since 1946. The student will join our team in Bristol Bay, Alaska, primarily at our Lake Aleknagik field station, where they will be an integral part of our research program. For 9 weeks, they will be fully immersed in collecting field data to add to our 70+ years of data. A typical day of field work may include spending a few hours on a small boat doing limnology sampling (zooplankon hauls, temperature-depth profiles, water clarity, chlorophyll-a sampling), sampling the near-shore habitat with a beach seine for juvenile sockeye and their competitors, collecting outmigrating sockeye smolt with a fyke net, or hiking up a stream counting spawning sockeye salmon. Lab work will include measuring fish, collecting genetics samples, and identifying and enumerating zooplankton. In addition to supporting our long term datasets, the student will have the opportunity to complete an independent research project tailored to their specific interests, which they will present as their final project.

Skills and requirements:

• Interest in ecology and field work
• Excited and able to spend 9 weeks in remote Alaska
• Some experience with field work and coursework in general biology, ecology, and basic statistics will be helpful, but not required

Work style/location: Field work/data collection, data entry, and basic analysis in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

3. Calibrating molecular methods to better characterize zooplankton assemblages

Dr. Sean McAllister, UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

Accurate and scalable biological data collection is imperative to advance coastal marine research and enable sustainable management of marine resources and water quality. This project addresses a key biological data gap by scaling observations of abundance, distribution, and community composition of marine zooplankton communities across strong warming, ocean acidification, and hypoxia exposure gradients. The project will leverage ‘Omics tools including multi-species metabarcoding approaches and quantitative single species approaches (qPCR) to characterize zooplankton species. Specifically, the summer intern with the OME and Carbon groups will conduct data analysis from the West Coast Ocean Acidification 2021 cruise, focusing on synthesizing complementary data from eDNA water samples from CTDs (metabarcoding and qPCR) and net tows (morphological assessment, metabarcoding, & qPCR). Each of these methods brings its strengths and weaknesses, including differences in time and cost (eDNA is more cost-effective and scalable), depth specificity (eDNA allows for precise estimates of biodiversity at specific depths), detection probability (net tows integrate zooplankton communities across thousands of liters of water), and quantification (qPCR provides absolute abundance compared to relative abundances provided with metabarcoding). By intercalibrating methods, we can refine interpretations of the wider-applied eDNA-based data for identifying biodiversity indicators of ocean change. This work will serve as a template for integrating molecular tools and biogeochemical observation platforms globally, addressing a critical limitation across biogeochemical and oceanography fields and achieving vital international objectives to develop co-located ocean variable observations.

Skills and requirements:

• Experience in a molecular lab (basic pipetting)
• Experience analyzing and visualizing data (R preferred)
• Coursework in marine sciences, oceanography, and/or biology

Work style/location: Lab work and data analysis at NOAA’s Western Regional Center (4 miles from UW’s campus).

4. Effects of surface roughness and impurities on ice thickness and photosynthesis during Snowball Earth

Dr. Aditya Khuller, UW Polar Science Center, UW Applied Physics Laboratory

About 700 million years ago, the Earth is thought to have been covered almost entirely with glaciers. During this “Snowball Earth” period, some areas without highly reflective snow overlying bare ice would have existed if conditions favored the evaporation of snow at the surface. If the exposed, underlying ice was thin and clear, photosynthesis could have continued beneath this bare ice. We will use an existing, validated set of models to calculate the penetration of sunlight into ice and atmospheric energy transfer into different ice surfaces on Snowball Earth. Together, we will explore the effects of: 1) the roughness of the ice, which affects evaporation rates; and 2) the presence of impurities, such as dust in the ice, which affects the amount of sunlight that can be transmitted for photosynthesis to occur.

Skills and requirements:

• Experience with coding is preferred; otherwise, a willingness to learn basic coding in MATLAB
• Interest in climate science and interdisciplinary research

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.

5. Variation in predation risk and hatching success for Brown Booby eggs

Dr. Beth Gardner, UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences

Brown Boobies are ground nesting seabirds found in tropical waters around the world. In areas where invasive rats overlap their nesting habitat, there is evidence that Brown Booby eggs can be predated on by rats. However, little is understood about this risk and the variation that may arise from differences in egg size. On Tetiaroa atoll in French Polynesia, Brown Boobies have been nesting in areas with and without invasive rats. We have collected measurements on eggs from Brown Booby nests on 3 different small islands in Tetiaroa and would like to explore how variation in egg size may lead to changes in susceptibility to rat predation. In addition, Brown Boobies can lay 2 (and rarely 3) eggs, thus allowing for exploration of differences in egg size between first and second laid eggs.

Skills and requirements:

• Experience with data management and analysis
• Some experience with R would be helpful and/or comfort with coding and an interest in statistics or modeling
• Interest in sea birds or tropical ecosystems

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.

6. Small scale variability in Antarctic snowfall and its impact on ice core records

Dr. T.J. Fudge, UW Department of Earth and Space Sciences

Increased snowfall in Antarctica may be offsetting about 10% of global sea rise. However, uncertainties in both current and past snowfall preclude confident determinations. This project will assess where future ice core sites can be best located to infer past snowfall and temperature changes. The emphasis will be on understanding the small scale variability of snow accumulation to find sites that are most representative of the regional average that is predicted by climate models. The student will work with geospatial data in Antarctica and learn to write code in python. The project may include extending existing ice core records in West Antarctica using airborne radar data that identifies annual layers. The work is part of a larger project using data assimilation to identify the optimal ice core network for inferring past Antarctic-wide accumulation and its impact on global sea level. The student will be part of a cohort of students studying ice related topics, in addition to the CICOES cohort, and will participate in a python coding boot camp and weekly meetings.

Skills and requirements:

• Interest in scientific programming

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus, with multiple field trips to glaciers around Washington.

7. How seasonality affects the coastal ocean’s CO2 uptake from the atmosphere

Dr. Xinyu Li, UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

The ocean plays a pivotal role in mitigating the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), absorbing approximately one-quarter of anthropogenic carbon emissions. Coastal oceans, despite covering only a small fraction of Earth’s surface, are critical hotspots for carbon cycling and essential to human well-being, economies, and ecosystems. However, the ability of coastal oceans to act as carbon sinks fluctuates seasonally, influenced by factors such as temperature changes, biological productivity, riverine inputs, and water column mixing processes. However, these seasonal variations complicate efforts to accurately quantify the anthropogenic carbon in the coastal oceans and the potential biases and uncertainties of seasonality are not yet fully quantified.

The project aims to address these knowledge gaps by analyzing monthly model output data to evaluate how seasonal sampling impacts the accuracy of reconstructing dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). It will also quantify the role of seasonality in contributing to uncertainties in the current anthropogenic carbon estimation algorithm. The intern will gain valuable hands-on experience in working with large, complex datasets, honing their data processing analysis skills and coding skills. Depending on the progress made during the project, the scope may be expanded to in-depth analysis, such as identifying key hotspots, understanding the underlying processes driving these patterns, and assessing their broader implications for coastal ocean acidification.

Skills and requirements:

• Coursework in statistics and calculus
• Experience coding in MATLAB, R, or Python is preferred

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.

8. Combining survey data to quantify spatiotemporal variation in fish populations across the northeast Pacific Ocean

Dr. Eric Ward, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

Working with collaborators from NOAA and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, we have assembled a coastwide dataset, combining catches of 50+ groundfish species in scientific surveys, from 2003 to the present. Spatially, this joint dataset spans from the U.S./Mexico West Coast border to the Bering Sea in Alaska. Previous efforts from our group have used this dataset to answer questions related to large-scale changes in species distributions. We are interested in using these data to tackle questions affecting biology and management of these species in a rapidly changing environment. The population status for many of these species is not evaluated often, thus there is potential for this work to have high impact. Some research topics that interns may work on include:

1. In addition to biomass and biological information, our data include environmental variables, such as temperature. We are interested in modeling species affinities for environmental variables through time.
2. Our current dataset includes the total weight of each species. We are interested in bringing in measurements of individual fish in these same surveys, allowing coastwide analyses of size (growth), condition (weight at length), and life-stage specific biomass indices.
3. Following our Canadian colleagues’ development of annual reporting, we are working on combining data from the USA and Canada into an online dashboard to report changes in biomass and biology, to describe how and where samples have been collected, and to understand the intensity of fishing pressure.

Skills and requirements:

• Experience with data management and analysis
• Experience coding in MATLAB, R, Python, or Julia
• Coursework in oceanography or fisheries, and statistics

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.

9. Projecting end-of-year catch

Dr. Lee Cronin-Fine, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center

At the end of every year, fishery stock assessments provide recommended overfishing limits (OFLs) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) for US fisheries for the following year. The last data pull for these assessments typically occurs around October. In order to determine the total catch for the current year, assessments need to predict what the catch will be for the remainder of the year. There are multiple methodologies available for predicting this future catch. For example, the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Alaska Plaice fishery determines the average catch for the three weeks prior to the last data pull and uses that value as the weekly catch for the remaining number of weeks in the year. The goal of the intern’s project is to evaluate several methods for predicting the remaining catch in the year for flatfish species such as Alaska Plaice, Greenland Turbot, and Flathead Sole and provide a recommendation on what is the best overall method for all species explored.

Skills and requirements:

• Experience with data management and analysis
• Experience coding in R

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work at NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center (4 miles from UW’s campus).

10. The role of localized weaknesses in Kobuk Lake ice breakup patterns

Dr. Georgy Manucharyan, UW School of Oceanography

The project aims to improve our understanding of seasonal sea ice breakup using floe-scale sea ice simulations. Central to this initiative is the SubZero model, a newly designed ice simulation tool that will be used to analyze wind-driven ice breakup in confined areas like Kobuk Lake, Alaska. The student will be working in a team associated with a NOAA funded project “Advancing Seasonal Sea Ice Breakup Modeling and Observations for Kotzebue Sound Communities.” The motivation stems from the urgent need to address dynamic ice patterns that pose risks to subsistence activities in Kotzebue, as traditional sea ice models often fail to accurately simulate crucial fractures and floe dynamics. SubZero aims to fill these gaps in floe-scale sea ice modeling, effectively incorporating diverse data sources to enhance predictions. The CICOES intern will quantify the role of various factors affecting the timing of sea ice breakup, such as sea ice thickness and weaknesses, river runoff, wind strength, etc. Ultimately, by improving the accuracy of sea ice predictions, the project seeks to enhance safety and support the subsistence lifestyle of the Kotzebue Sound communities, fostering better preparedness against the challenges of a changing climate.

Skills and requirements:

• Experience with data management and analysis
• Basic coding skills

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.

11. PROJECT WITHDRAWN

This project has been withdrawn. For applicants who already selected Project 11 as one of your top five choices, you do not need to take any action. If you are offered a spot in our internship program, we will match you with one of your other choices.

12. How acidification affects the hydrodynamics of Wing Foot Snails (Pteropoda)

Dr. Will Ballentine, UW School of Oceanography

Shelled pteropods, meaning “wing-foot” snails, are small, free-swimming pelagic mollusks that play a significant role in marine ecosystems. However, as oceans become increasingly acidic due to rising atmospheric CO₂ levels, pteropods face potential threats to their survival. Their aragonite-based shells are particularly vulnerable, as acidification makes these shells more difficult to form and maintain. Acidification can result in shells that are less dense and/or asymmetrical, potentially impacting the pteropods’ ability to swim and remain stable in the water column. This project seeks to explore how changes in shell density and symmetry influence key ecological functions such as locomotion and swimming stability. To achieve this, we will design and create dynamically scaled 3D physical models of pteropods to experimentally test how variations in shell morphology affect hydrodynamics. These experiments will be conducted in the Chan Lab at the University of Washington. Participants in this project will gain valuable experience in microscopy, Computer-Assisted Design (CAD), model fabrication, small-scale fluid dynamics, video motion analysis, and data processing, making it an excellent opportunity to develop interdisciplinary skills at the intersection of biology, engineering, and oceanography.

Skills and requirements:

• Some related experience or coursework will be helpful, but not required

Work style/location: A mix of office-based computer work and lab work on UW’s campus.

13. Continuation of the development of an interactive Shiny app for at-sea distributions and densities of marine mammals

Stacie Koslovsky, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Understanding distributions and densities of marine mammals is a high priority for NOAA Fisheries, including the timing and location of marine mammal distribution, migrations, density in local areas, and movements to mitigate anthropogenic impacts on protected species. While this information is challenging to provide, there are disparate datasets that can be combined to provide more refined estimates of seasonal densities and to provide managers with the best scientific information available. We seek an intern to continue the development of a web application hosted on the existing NMFS Posit Connect server where species density maps can be viewed and downloaded by stakeholders.

The intern will work closely with program staff to continue to develop the code base and application using R and GitHub, including adding new data products to the existing application, optimizing the existing code base, completing updates to the application, and expanding documentation. The intern will be provided with oversight and the data products to be used for developing the application, but the remainder of the code development will be conducted by the selected intern with regular feedback and testing from program staff. The intern will participate in regular coworking sessions with the mentor(s) and will conduct several informational interviews with program staff during the internship for their professional development. At the beginning of the internship, the intern will be given 2-3 milestones to meet during their internship; when each of those milestones is reached, a code review will be conducted and feedback will be provided.

Skills and requirements:

• Experience coding in R

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work at NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center (4 miles from UW’s campus).

14. Saildrone observations of ocean currents and ecosystem variability during the development of the 2023-24 El Niño

Dr. Yolande Serra, UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

Recently, NOAA has committed to a redesign of the backbone observing system in the Tropics, known as Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS), to capture air-sea fluxes and subsurface ocean stratification to improve our understanding of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system and El Niño Southern Oscillation prediction. Since 2017, the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory’s Ocean Climate Station group, which includes both NOAA and University of Washington/CICOES scientists, has been testing the use of an innovative observing platform for the TPOS: Saildrone, Inc. uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and their suite of meteorological, physical, and biogeochemical sensors. This research project would investigate how a cluster of USVs, with an echo sounder and ocean current velocity profiles, can be used to investigate 1) upper ocean ecosystem variability near the eastern edge of the western Pacific warm pool during the developing 2023-24 El Niño; and 2) impacts of ecosystem variability on echo intensity measurements from the acoustic Doppler ocean current profiler. This second part of the project examines how the current profiler might be used as a pseudo echo sounder tuned to biomass detection, making use of the fact that saildrone observations of biomass distribution and ocean currents both involve the use of sound waves. This project has strong relevance to an upcoming field campaign led by NOAA to study processes at the eastern edge of the warm pool in spring 2026 titled the Tropical Pacific Observing System Experiment in the Central Pacific (TEPEX-C).

Skills and requirements:

• Coursework in math and physics is required
• Coursework in biology is preferred
• Experience coding in MATLAB or Python is preferred

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work at NOAA’s Western Regional Center (4 miles from UW’s campus).

15. Uncovering ancient landscapes: reconstructing climate and uplift on the Colorado Plateau through lake sediment geochemistry

Dr. Katharine Huntington, UW Department of Earth and Space Sciences

What are the causes and consequences of topographic change? This fundamental Earth science question holds the key to understanding the co-evolution of tectonics, surface processes, climate, and life. The uplift of the Colorado Plateau — a region now standing about 2 km above sea level — had profound impacts on regional climate, ecosystems, and biodiversity. Yet, the timing, pace, and mechanisms driving this uplift remain highly debated. Geological evidence reveals that about 90 million years (Ma) ago this area was submerged beneath a shallow sea. Later, large ancient lake systems — now absent from the arid landscape — record the region’s transformation through changing topography and environment. This project seeks to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental history of 16-6 Ma lake carbonate deposits from the Colorado Plateau, which span a period of significant global warming and cooling often compared to future climate scenarios. By analyzing these deposits, the project aims to constrain the timing and mechanisms of uplift and their climatic and ecological consequences.

The intern will join a dynamic team of faculty, students, and researchers to gain hands-on experience with advanced geochemical techniques, including clumped isotopes. We will tailor the research to the intern’s interests, whether it’s developing new lab methods or modeling geochemical processes in ancient lakes and modern analogs. The intern’s work will address key questions, such as how shifts in climate, topography, and environment are recorded in lake sediments. This research will deepen our understanding of the interplay of climate, tectonics, and Earth-surface processes on the Colorado Plateau, all while developing technical and analytical skills.

Skills and requirements:

• Interest in geology, chemistry, and/or coding
• Coursework in chemistry is preferred

Work style/location: A mix of office-based computer work and lab work on UW’s campus.

16. Arctic aerosol trends at the NOAA Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory

Lucia Upchurch, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

The Atmospheric Chemistry Group at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory has been measuring marine aerosol composition at the NOAA Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory in Utqiagvik, Alaska since 1997. This unique dataset of optical and chemical properties can be used to analyze and characterize long-term trends and seasonality of aerosols in the Arctic. This internship will use the existing dataset to look at long term trends that have been previously observed to see if they have shifted with warming temperatures, increased greenhouse gases, or other factors. Through this project, the intern will gain skills in laboratory practices and measurements to extend the dataset, including measuring chemical composition through ion chromatography, learning data processing techniques, and producing figures and graphs to visualize seasonal and annual trends.

Skills and requirements:

• At least one course in chemistry is required, though more is preferred
• College level math and statistics is preferred
• Some coursework in atmospheric sciences, meteorology and/or oceanography is preferred
• Solid skills in MS Office/Google Suite for documentation, data analysis, and presentations is required

Work style/location: A mix of office-based computer work and lab work at NOAA’s Western Regional Center (4 miles from UW’s campus).

17. Reconstructing the ratio of magnesium to calcium from single foraminifera to understand marine heat waves during current and past climate changes

Dr. Sophie Nuber, UW School of Oceanography

Modern global warming causes the frequent occurrence of marine heat waves, which can have detrimental effects on regional ecosystems and larger scale weather patterns, subsequently impacting human life and resources. However, little is known about the history of marine heat waves in times prior to modern global warming. At the Department of Oceanography, we are actively developing a method that will allow the reconstruction of marine heat wave occurrence frequency during past climates using small ocean-based fossils called foraminifera. Foraminifera are found in ocean sediment samples that are collected world-wide using large drilling operations. For our study, we provide ocean sediment material that comes from the North Pacific and the Santa Barbara basin, two locations where marine heat waves have recently been recorded. The intern will actively participate in the project, by working directly with the modern slice of ocean sediment core material to extract the small fossil shells and prepare them for geochemical analysis. The work will train the intern to become confident in working with carbonate microfossils in a microscopy laboratory, identifying different species, and sorting them into different slides. They will also learn how to crush foraminifera shells and prepare them for geochemical analysis at Trace Lab, a state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facility.

Skills and requirements:

• Interest in working independently in a lab
• Willingness to wear personal protective equipment and follow lab safety protocols
• Interest in climate change research

Work style/location: Primarily lab work on UW’s campus.

18. Investigating impacts of winds on ocean circulation via a hierarchy of models

Dr. Matt Luongo, UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies, UW School of Oceanography

Coupled ocean-atmosphere interactions create chicken-or-egg type questions which complicate our ability to determine the primary drivers of climate phenomena. For instance, variability in large-scale winds can impact ocean currents through anomalous heat fluxes and mechanical stirring. However, those same winds can themselves be impacted by changes in currents, and so on. One means to circumvent this issue in a climate model is to partially decouple winds from the ocean and see whether the climate phenomenon of interest still occurs. Two distinct but related decoupling methods have been used before: 1) column wind nudging, which pushes upper-level winds to specified values but allows coupled feedbacks at the ocean surface; and 2) surface wind stress overriding, which entirely disables surface momentum feedbacks but allows the atmosphere to otherwise evolve freely. Because these methods have their own strengths and weaknesses, leveraging both methods together would be a powerful means to clarify the atmosphere’s role in driving certain ocean circulation processes. For this project, the intern will analyze climate model output from both column wind nudging and surface wind stress overriding simulations. The intern will investigate trends and variability in phenomena linked to subpolar regions, such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), in both historical and future climate change simulations. The results will shed light on the extent to which the atmosphere drives observed and projected variability in these ocean processes and whether the relevant atmospheric variability is local and random or the result of global-scale climate adjustments.

Skills and requirements:

• Some experience coding is preferred

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.

19. Underwater ambient sound analysis

Dr. Shima Abadi, UW School of Oceanography

The UW Ocean Data Lab has gathered several months of continuous acoustic recordings from multiple locations throughout Puget Sound. These recordings provide a rich dataset for studying the underwater soundscape of the region. As part of this project, the intern will analyze this archive to investigate patterns in underwater ambient noise and identify specific acoustic signals. This includes sounds produced by marine mammals, such as Southern Resident Killer Whales, as well as noise from vessel traffic and natural phenomena like underwater bubbles and turbulence.

Additionally, the intern will conduct spectral analysis of these datasets, aiming to link underwater sound to other phenomena such as wind, rain, and marine traffic. They will also examine seasonal and spatial variations in underwater sound to gain a deeper understanding of the soundscape. This includes identifying regions with high and low underwater noise and exploring the underlying causes, such as specific ferry routes generating excessive noise or geological processes like methane plumes contributing to the acoustic environment.

Skills and requirements:

• Experience coding in Python

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.

20. Investigating environmental drivers of phytoplankton diversity using machine learning

Dr. Rui Jin, UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that form the foundation of the oceanic food web and play a critical role in Earth’s carbon cycle. This project aims to decipher how environmental conditions such as temperature, light, and nutrient availability shape the distribution of phytoplankton functional groups, including diatoms and coccolithophores. These groups influence carbon cycling differently, with diatoms driving organic carbon export and coccolithophores contributing to inorganic carbon production. The intern will work with observational datasets from NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, supplemented by existing remote sensing and climatological data if necessary. Using an accessible machine learning technique called Random Forests, the intern will identify key environmental factors influencing phytoplankton diversity and evaluate their relative importance. The intern’s tasks will include: 1) learning to handle large environmental and biological datasets; 2) using Python-based tools to preprocess and visualize data; 3) applying machine learning techniques to analyze the relationships between environmental variables and phytoplankton groups; and 4) creating sensitivity plots showing how specific environmental drivers influence phytoplankton distributions. Time and interest permitting, the intern may extend the analysis to include climate model outputs for model-observation comparisons, with potential for publication contributions.

This project provides a unique opportunity for hands-on experience with data science, machine learning, and marine biology research. No prior coding experience is required — mentorship and resources will be provided to support the intern’s success.

Skills and requirements:

• Interest in machine learning and data analysis
• Experience with coding is preferred
• Basic knowledge of remote sensing and physical and biological oceanography

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.

21. Influence of artificial light at night (ALAN) on salmon predation

Dr. Shelley Johnson and Tessa Code, USGS Western Fisheries Research Center

All freshwater salmon predators primarily rely on vision to hunt, so understanding how the underwater visual environment affects a predator’s ability to detect and capture juvenile salmon can provide important insights into how light and turbidity influence temporal-spatial dynamics in predation and predation risk. Peak predation generally occurs during twilight periods, but we now have perpetual twilight through the night from increasing artificial light at night (ALAN) over recent decades. We will map the visual predation risk environment in the Lake Washington basin across depth, regions, variability in lunar cycles and cloud cover. We will also measure responses by predators and the prey fish community to these visual dynamics via laboratory experiments, direct sampling of the fish, and hydroacoustic surveys.

In addition, we will conduct experiments in large arenas at our lab to measure the reaction distances of predatory fish to juvenile salmonids under ecologically-relevant combinations of light intensity and turbidity in order to construct or refine visual foraging models for species of important salmon predators (i.e., initially northern pikeminnow, but will ultimately include other salmonids, various species of bass, yellow perch, etc.).

Understanding the influence of the visual environment on predator prey interactions can add a valuable new dimension to salmon recovery and habitat restoration efforts. By identifying sources of direct light we can develop common sense, one-time remedies that would improve salmon survival throughout the basin.

Skills and requirements:

• Comfort on boats
• Willingness to conduct nocturnal work
• Experience with basic statistics and coding in R
• Interest in fish behavior

Work style/location: A mix of field work in the Seattle area and lab work and office-based computer work at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center (3 miles from UW’s campus).

22. Stratification variability and internal wave dynamics on the California inner shelf

Dr. Walter Torres, UW Applied Physics Laboratory

Beneath the familiar surface waves breaking at the beach, much larger and slower-moving internal waves travel through the ocean’s interior. Unlike surface waves, internal waves break underwater on the inner continental shelf. When these waves dissipate, they play a vital role in transporting heat, oxygen, and larvae to and from the coastline. The structure and movement of internal waves are shaped by ocean stratification — the layering of water caused by density differences, which depend on variations in temperature and salinity.

This project focuses on understanding how stratification influences the internal wave field at Point Sal, a coastal promontory known for its large, breaking internal waves. As an intern, you will work alongside oceanographers from the University of Washington and the University of Connecticut to analyze real-world data collected from a network of moorings and sensors. Your work may involve time-series analysis, statistical techniques, data visualization, and potentially numerical modeling to explore how changes in stratification affect the generation, propagation, and dissipation of internal waves.

This opportunity is ideal for students eager to apply and expand their skills in programming, mathematics, and physics while exploring oceanographic data. No prior experience in oceanography is required — just curiosity, a strong background in science, and a willingness to learn.

Skills and requirements:

• Coursework in calculus and physics
• Experience with a modern programming language (R, MATLAB, Python, etc.)

Work style/location: Primarily office-based computer work on UW’s campus.