The Warkentin Lab - Undergraduate Research

SUMMARY: Internships are a 3-month field research experience at the Gamboa Field Station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Panama with Professor Karen Warkentin of Boston University and members of her research group. The research entails laboratory work in Gamboa and field work at local ponds and streams with frog eggs, tadpoles, metamorphs, adults, and their natural enemies. Interns will be trained in animal behavior, evolutionary and population ecology, and tropical herpetology, and mentored on career development. The Smithsonian offers a diverse and intellectually rich international scientific community in a tropical rainforest environment.

BACKGROUND: Members of the Warkentin laboratory study predator-prey interactions, parent-embryo interactions, and plastic anti-predator defenses in red-eyed treefrogs, hourglass treefrogs, and several species of glassfrogs. All these species show variation in hatching timing in response to egg-stage risks.

TRAINING: Interns gain practical research experience, participate in collaborative experiments and conduct individual observations and/or experimental research related to the larger project. They learn a substantial amount about the behavior, ecology, and natural history of leaf-breeding frogs and their natural enemies. They gain experience with appropriate methods for collecting and handling all of the animals used in our research, and with analytical methods and scientific computer software. Daily interactions with the research team build a strong theoretical framework for the research, including the fundamentals of experimental design. The Gamboa Frog Seminar series, and well as seminars at STRI in Panama City add breadth to their understanding of behavior, ecology and evolution and, more generally, tropical biology. This background, combined with the opportunity to make personal natural history observations and to discuss ideas with members of the Warkentin lab, position the interns well to develop an individual research project after the internship.

Details: Living/working in Gamboa (download pdf)
Some intern questions & answers (download pdf)
Technical summary of 2008-2011 project (download pdf)

Download pdf of information about internship

Interns are selected based on merit, potential for the experience to benefit the intern, and potential for the intern to benefit the project. We consider academic training and skills relevant to research as well as personal suitability for working under field conditions and living in shared accomodations in Gamboa. We strive to create a diverse, congenial, and productive team each field season.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Professor Karen Warkentin: kwarken@bu.edu

Research Internships in Panama Ecology, Evolution and Behavior of Leaf-breeding Frogs For several years we have offered research experiences for US & Latin American students as summer interns. For summer 2012 we do not have our own funding for interns. Students may apply to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and indicate their interest in working with the Warkentin lab. BU students may apply for summer internship funding through the Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program – Contact Prof. Warkentin for details. Depending on space availability, we may also consider prospective interns who have their own funding from elsewhere or who wish to volunteer.

Intern Graziela Biavati (2007) conducting field work at night with red-eyed treefrogs			Red-eyed treefrog tadpole and giant water bug (above); metamorph below
SUMMARY: Internships are a 3-month field research experience at the Gamboa Field Station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in Panama with Professor Karen Warkentin of Boston University and members of her research group. The research entails laboratory work in Gamboa and field work at local ponds and streams with frog eggs, tadpoles, metamorphs, adults, and their natural enemies. Interns will be trained in animal behavior, evolutionary and population ecology, and tropical herpetology, and mentored on career development. The Smithsonian offers a diverse and intellectually rich international scientific community in a tropical rainforest environment. BACKGROUND: Members of the Warkentin laboratory study predator-prey interactions, parent-embryo interactions, and plastic anti-predator defenses in red-eyed treefrogs, hourglass treefrogs, and several species of glassfrogs. All these species show variation in hatching timing in response to egg-stage risks. TRAINING: Interns gain practical research experience, participate in collaborative experiments and conduct individual observations and/or experimental research related to the larger project. They learn a substantial amount about the behavior, ecology, and natural history of leaf-breeding frogs and their natural enemies. They gain experience with appropriate methods for collecting and handling all of the animals used in our research, and with analytical methods and scientific computer software. Daily interactions with the research team build a strong theoretical framework for the research, including the fundamentals of experimental design. The Gamboa Frog Seminar series, and well as seminars at STRI in Panama City add breadth to their understanding of behavior, ecology and evolution and, more generally, tropical biology. This background, combined with the opportunity to make personal natural history observations and to discuss ideas with members of the Warkentin lab, position the interns well to develop an individual research project after the internship. Details: Living/working in Gamboa (download pdf) Some intern questions & answers (download pdf) Technical summary of 2008-2011 project (download pdf) Download pdf of information about internship Interns are selected based on merit, potential for the experience to benefit the intern, and potential for the intern to benefit the project. We consider academic training and skills relevant to research as well as personal suitability for working under field conditions and living in shared accomodations in Gamboa. We strive to create a diverse, congenial, and productive team each field season. FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Professor Karen Warkentin: kwarken@bu.edu
Intern Sandra Galeano (2006) studying tadpole growth under field conditions in Ocelot Pond

Last updated Jan. 28, 2012 • Warkentin Lab Homepage • Biology Department, Boston University

Research Internships in Panama

Ecology, Evolution and Behavior of Leaf-breeding Frogs