Graduate Research Opportunities on Public Lands

 

The CLM Internship Program has partnered with Chicago Botanic Garden & Northwestern University’s Master’s Program in Plant Biology and Conservation to establish a link between the land management community and applied scientific research. The partnership would allow students in the PBC Program to conduct research under the supervision of scientists at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Northwestern and federal land managers.

As part of the two-year Masters program, this partnership involves a research projects that focus on current BLM resource needs, with specific focus on botanical or habitat projects. The research would culminate in the student's thesis and a publishable article(s). The timeline for data collection could possibly be one contiguous ten-month period or two five-month periods over two years.

 

Research project ideas include, but are not limited to the following areas:

Development of a habitat model for a rare plant using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software
Analysis of distribution and trends for the spread of invasive plant species
Analysis of current threats on rare plant populations
Analysis of potential for woody shrub restoration in riparian areas
Investigation of the effects of disturbance (e.g. cattle grazing) as an effective tool to reduce fuel loads of cheat grass and other invasive species, and thus prevent wildfires.

 

Questions about this opportunity?

For further information about possible research projects and/or hosting a research student,
email info@clminternship.org or call (847) 835-6919.

For further information about eligibility for the master's program, please contact Nyree Zerega at nzerega@chicagobotanic.org or (847) 835-6916.