2021 Projects

This page is dedicated to the 2021 Climate Science REU students and mentors. Each of the project topics and the student and mentor(s) assigned to each of the topics are listed below.


Title: Investigating Agricultural CO2 Gradients to Improve the Accuracy of Urban Greenhouse Gas Measurements.

Student: Matthew Berzonsky (Saint Francis University).

Mentors: Samantha Murphy, Natasha Miles, Kenneth Davis, and Scott Richardson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Flux tower and Satellite Estimates of Gross Primary Productivity in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest.

Student: Kiera Biener (Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan)

Mentors: Julio Urbina, Jose Fuentes, and Chris Forest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Distinct Streamflow Carbon Responses from Two Alpine Watersheds

Student: Immanuel Bissell (Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University)

Mentors: Devon Kerins and Li Li.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: An Empirical Analysis on the Effects of Meteorology on Surface PM2.5 Concentration.

Student: Christian Bohon (Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, The Pennsylvania State University).

Mentor: Manzhu Yu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Intensification of the Azores High in a Warmer Climate and its Impacts on US Extreme Precipitation.

Student: Lauryn Brown (Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Northern Vermont University-Lyndon).

Mentors: Fan Wu and Laifang Li.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Using n-Alkane Biomarkers Found in a Holocene Croatian Paleolake to Reconstruct Past Climate, Environmental, and Ecological Conditions

Student: Samuel Cohen (Department of Geology and Environmental Science, University of Pittsburgh)

Mentors: Emma Hartke and Katherine Freeman.

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Predicting Heavy-Rain Producing Mesoscale Convective Systems in Senegal.

Student: Faith Colbert

Mentors: Gregory S. Jenkins and Yunji Zhang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Using Radiosonde Data to Evaluate Climate Model Biases in Planetary Boundary Layer Height Across the Continental United States.

Student: Coralis Friedman Álvarez (Department of Geology, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez).

Mentors: Colin Zarzycki, Michelle Gore, and Kyle Nardi.

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Looking at the Phase Transitions of Aerosol Droplets Can Indicate the Droplets Influence on Disease Transmission.

Student: India Gipson (Fort Valley State University)

Mentors: Qishen Huang, and Miriam Friedman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: The Impact of Diagenesis on the Marine Calcium Isotopic Record.

Student: Elizabeth Goodell (Oberlin College)

Mentors: Matthew Fantle, and Kimberly Lau.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: What are the Surface Water Withdrawal Infrastructures at Risk of Saltwater Intrusion in the Chesapeake Bay?

Student: Alain Izabayo (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University)

Mentors: Alfonso Mejia and Raymond Najjar.

 

 

 

 

Title: Sources of δ13C Variation in the Chuar Group

Student: Mila Matney (Wellesley College).

Mentors: Katherine Freeman and Christopher Junium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Apple Bloom Dates in the Mid-Atlantic Region in a Changing Climate.

Student: Sam Muir (Department of Environmental Studies, St. Mary’s College of Maryland)

Mentors: Richard Marini, José Fuentes, and Andrew Polasky.

 

 

 

 

Title: Measuring an Ecosystem’s Breath: Changes to Net Ecosystem Exchange in a Mangrove Forest in the Florida Everglades Following Hurricane Irma.

Student: Marissa A. Naclerio (Department of Natural Resources, University of Connecticut)

Mentors: Sparkle Malone and José D. Fuentes.

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Comparing the Dynamics of Dissolved Organic Carbon in Harvested and Unharvested Watersheds within the Oregon Cascade

Student: Shreya Ramesh (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University)

Mentors: Devon Kerins and Li Li.

 

 

 

Title: Investigation of Ocean Temperature Trends in the Eastern Equatorial Region in the Pacific Ocean

Student: Marissa Tripus (Department of Earth Sciences, Millersville University)

Mentors: Sukyoung Lee and Colton Milcarek.

 

 

 

 

Title: Investigating Trends and Patterns in Heat Wave Occurrence in Bangladesh

Student: Baylee Sexton (Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, The Pennsylvania State University)

Mentors: Chris E. Forest, Nachiketa Acharya, Alfonso Mejia, Lauren Trepanier, and Emily L. Pakhtigian.

 

 

 

 

Title: Initial Exploration of Pollutant Behavior in the near-Pittsburgh Area

Student: Léo Loubières (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

Mentors: Kenneth Davis, Zachary Barkley, Yue Pan, and David Marcial.