On-Campus Research Opportunities
Pursue research and creative work with Macalester Faculty
Many faculty at Macalester invite students into their research projects, giving students a first-hand opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge scholarly work. Faculty with positions potentially available for students next summer are listed below.
The faculty either already have funding or are awaiting news about whether they will receive funding to hire (a) student(s). Alternatively, students can also apply for a Fellowship (link TBD) to support a research project working with a Macalester faculty mentor.
On-Campus Research
The summer 2025 application cycle is not open yet. Stay tuned!
Examples of Faculty Projects from 2024
Biology
Boyer-“Diversity and Evolution of Arachnids”
Dosch/Anderson-“Ecology at Ordway: An Integrated Summer of Experiential Learning Research”
Dosch/Anderson (Young Researchers Positions)-“Research on Global Change Ecology at Ordway Field Station”
Heskel-“Measuring Saint Paul’s ‘Shade Gap’ and street trees’ role mediating climate”
Rivera-“Optimizing protein precipitation methods in human nail analysis”
Tonc-“Characterization of mast cell and fibroblast contributions to chronic vulvar pain”
Tong-“Extracellular Matrix is Necessary for the Persistence of Olfactory Perceptual Learning”
Chemistry
Cao-“Organic Materials Synthesis”
Fischer-“Synthetic InorganicChemistry of Phenyltris(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)borates and Related Ligands”
Splan-“Research in Bioinorganic Chemistry”
Witus-“Catalytic peptides and enzyme-polymer conjugates for biomedical applications”
Environmental Studies
Bradtmiller-“Paleoclimate and Oceanography Research Using Deep Sea Sediments”
O’Connell-“Ecosystem Climate Feedbacks in Tropical Forests: Field Work in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo Experimental Forest”
Geology
MacGregor-“Environmental Change in Glacier National Park, Montana”
MSCS
Arehalli-“Predictive Processing in Language Production & Comprehension”
Herstedt-“Analysis of Discrete Zero-Dimensional Dynamical Systems”
Jackson-“Drawing from Life in Extended Reality: Advancing Cross-Reality User Interfaces for Observational 3D Sketching”
Fox-“Deep Learning for Robot Navigation”
Fox (Young Researchers Positions)-“Deep Learning for Robot Navigation”
Grinde-“Statistical genetics in populations with mixed ancestry”
Marsh -“Online Privacy in Chinese Fandom”
Mitchell-“Math Corps camp and/or Numerical Methods for Fluid Flows”
Peña-“Design and Evaluation of Computing Workshops for Professional Non-programmers”
Ziegelmeier-“Topological Data Analysis of Knowledge Networks”
Neuroscience/Psychology
Maddux-“Cholinergic mechanisms of Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior in rats”
Pezalla-“An exploration into the meaning of gentle parenting”
Physics
Heyman-“Ultrafast Optical Spectroscopy of Novel Photoconductors”
Williams-“Extragalactic Magnetic Fields”