Research Experiences for Undergraduates

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Interns pay no facility fees or tuition charges and receive:

• A stipend of $6,000 for the 10-week program (paid every 2 weeks)
• Free housing and meals at the DeFelice Marine Center
• Funds to partially or fully cover travel costs to and from LUMCON from their home or university

Students participating in REU internships are often eligible to receive academic credit from their home institutions. Program participants may be interested in exploring this possibility. A number of LUMCON REU alumni have also continued building on their projects after returning to their home institutions with many of these efforts resulting in senior or honors theses.

The ideal candidate is an undergraduate student interested in pursuing a career in coastal and/or marine science. Successful applicants are curious, creative, motivated, detail-oriented, and comfortable working collaboratively as part of a research team.

**Participants must be available for the full ten-week program.

To be eligible, applicants must be returning to an undergraduate degree program in the fall semester (for example, students who graduate in May or June prior to the program start date are not eligible). Because this program is supported by the National Science Foundation, participation is limited to U.S. citizens and residents of U.S. territories. Students from small colleges and institutions with limited research opportunities are especially encouraged to apply.

Please feel free to contact Dr. Brian Roberts, our REU Program Director, if you have any questions about the program and/or the application process. Please see our REU Program FAQ document for answers to frequently asked questions.

Mentors and mentor teams will be selected from LUMCON faculty members, their post-docs and graduate students, and visiting scientists who have active research programs addressing basic and applied research questions in and around the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, their deltas, adjacent wetlands, and nearby shallow coastal or deep ocean waters.

• In the summer 2026, REU opportunities are available in several research areas, including:
  • ecosystem ecology
  • biogeochemistry
  • habitat forming species
  • dissolved organic matter cycling
  • microbial ecology and diversity
  • sea level rise
  • phytoplankton ecology
  • marsh and estuarine biodiversity
  • wetland science
  • disturbance ecology
  • bioimaging and fluid mechanics
  • behavioral ecology
  • biodiversity information science
  • Marine plant physiological ecology

All application materials must be received by March 21, 2026. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
We are using the National Science Foundations online application platform (ETAP) for this student opportunity.

A complete REU application consists of the following items. All these items will be required through ETAP so have them ready.

1. Completed application (click this link to go directly to the application).

2. A one-page statement of interest, describing your interest in and reasons why you should be selected for LUMCON’s REU program. After consulting the REU mentors and project opportunities, you should also indicate your top two research preferences and why you would like to research these topics.

3. A resume or curriculum vitae describing any science-related jobs, internships, volunteer work, scholarships and/or other activities that you have held or participated in and any other relevant skills or accomplishments.

4. Two letters of reference from individuals capable of commenting on your academic qualifications and, if possible, research skills (college or university faculty or research advisors preferred).

5. A copy of your current college transcript.

All items must be received by 11:59 CT on March 21, 2026. If you have any questions about the application process, please contact [email protected] or (985) 851-2860.