Undergraduate Summer Research Awards
Summer research awards provide paid employment opportunities for students to participate in scientific research at Dalhousie during the summer. If you would like to gain research experience in an academic setting, these awards can provide you with financial support.
USRAs have closed as of January 24, 2025.
2025 Student Application
2025 Supervisor Application
Learn more about the Summer Research Awards.
You may also contact:
USRA Coordinator: Sarah Fortune
Fax: (902) 494-3877
E-mail: sarah.fortune@dal.ca
NSERC USRA Projects in Oceanography for Summer 2025:
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Supervisor: Dr. Sarah Fortune; sarah.fortune@dal.ca
Project Title: Measuring the energy content and species composition of zooplankton in the eastern Gulf of St. Lawrence
Project Description: Student will particpate in monthly field sampling off the west coast of Newfoundland. This will entail collecting zooplankton samples from a net and using imaging sensors. Collected specimens will be livesorted on land for oil sac volume measurement. Imagery will be later sorted using EcoTaxa to determine the vertical distribution, size and composition of zooplankton and compared with samples obtained for the western Gulf of St. Lawrence.
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Supervisor: Dr. Ruth Musgrave; rmusgrave@dal.ca
Project Title: Building an "OpenCTD"
Project Description: Our understanding of ocean processes often relies on measurements of conductivity (salinity), temperature, and pressure (depth) (CTD). An instrument to measure these quantities is often prohibitively expensive, meaning fewer measurements are made. This project involves building a low-cost “OpenCTD” (Thaler et al. 2024 - Oceanography), which may be an alternative to costly off-the-shelf units. The student will evaluate the performance of the OpenCTD in both a laboratory and the field, as well as investigate its suitability for ocean research. Expected skills to be acquired: The student will gain familiarity with common sensors used in oceanography, and an understanding their uses. The student will also acquire skills in data processing/analysis with a programming language, and practical skills involved in assembling the CTD.
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Supervisor: Dr. Eric Oliver; Eric.Oliver@Dal.Ca
Project title: Characterizing the Groswater Bay polynya using oceanographic data and Labrador Inuit Knowledge
Project Description: Polynyas are areas of open water within the sea ice cover and are areas of enhanced biological productivity, sites of dense water formation, and key hunting grounds and travel safety features for local Inuit. This project will characterize the large, seasonal Groswater Bay (central Labrador) polynya from both scientific and Inuit Knowledge. Scientific data sources will include Canadian Ice Service charts, oceanographic moorings, weather data, and remotely sensed sea surface temperatures and chlorophyll-a, and will be combined with maps and interview text relaying Labrador Inuit knowledge of the polynya. The goal will be to better understand the physical drivers of the polynya and what sets its year to year variability. The student will acquire skills relating to programming and the analysis of large spatio-temporal datasets, the use of high-performance computing clusters, data visualisation methods, statistical methods commonly used in physical oceanography and climate science, and how to read and understand the relevant scientific literature.
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Supervisor: Dr. Carly Buchwald; cbuchwald@dal.ca
Project Title: Bedford Basin Nitrogen Cycling
Project Description: Student will be doing laboratory analysis on the stable isotope ratios of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium collected in the Bedford Basin Monitoring program, and help with computer analysis of a large time series data set.
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Supervisor: Dr. Carly Buchwald; cbuchwald@dal.ca
Project Title: Optimization of kelp hatchery techniques
Project Description: Student will help with a process called "forced maturation" where we collect kelp and induce reproductive maturation. Once matured student will help with spawning the matured tissue, to improve spawning techniques and then go on to grow kelp seedlings if they mature.
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