On-Campus Research Opportunities

Applications that are still open are indicated with two asterisk**

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 to support a research project working with a Macalester faculty mentor.

Macalester Faculty Research Descriptions

Biology

Boyer-“Diversity and Evolution of Arachnids” Application closed

Curry Rogers– “The Paleobiology of Late Cretaceous Dinosaurs and Their Contemporaries”

Dosch/Anderson-“Ecology at Ordway: An Integrated Summer of Experiential Learning Research” Application closed

Heskel-“Evolution of Meta-ecosystems in the Alaskan Arctic” Application closed

Rivera-“Optimizing protein precipitation methods in human nail analysis”

** Twedell– “Red Nucleus Contributions to Gait and Locomotor Control” Apply Here *Application due March 13, 2026

Chemistry

Cao-“Organic Materials Synthesis” Application closed

Kuwata-“Computational Modeling of Oxygenated Reactive Intermediates in Atmospheric Chemistry” Professor Kuwata is not hiring researchers for Summer 2026.

Splan-“Research in Bioinorganic Chemistry” Professor Splan is not hiring researchers for Summer 2026.

Varberg-“Research in Molecular Spectroscopy” Professor Varberg is not hiring student researchers for Summer 2026.

Witus-“Catalytic Peptides and Enzyme-polymer Conjugates for Biomedical Applications” Application closed

Environmental Studies

Bradtmiller-“Paleoclimate and Oceanography Research Using Deep Sea Sediments” Application closed

Bratt-“Effects of Redlining on Water Quality Across the Twin Cities Metro Area” Professor Bratt is not hiring student researchers for Summer 2026.

Phadke-“The Reimagining of the Upper Mississippi” Professor Phadke is not hiring student researchers for Summer 2026.

Geography

Haro-Carrión-“Land-use / land-cover change and their impacts on biodiversity in human-modified landscapes”

Geology

Curry Rogers– “The Paleobiology of Late Cretaceous Dinosaurs and Their Contemporaries”

MacGregor-“Environmental Change in Glacier National Park, Montana” Professor MacGregor is not accepting student researchers for summer 2025.

Chapman– “Tectonics research.”

MSCS

Arehalli-“Predictive Processing in Language Production & Comprehension” Professor Arehalli is not accepting student researchers for summer 2026.

Diaz-“Rank Lists of Zig-Zag Matrices for Quiver Representations” Professor Diaz is not accepting students for summer 2026

Fox-“Deep Learning for Robot Navigation” Application closed

Jackson-“Drawing from Life in Extended Reality: Advancing Cross-Reality User Interfaces for Observational 3D Sketching” Application closed

Grinde-“Statistical genetics in populations with mixed ancestry” Professor Grinde is not accepting student researchers for summer 2026.

Mitchell-“Math Corps camp and/or Numerical Methods for Fluid Flows” Application closed

Peña-“Design and Evaluation of Computing Workshops for Professional Non-programmers” Application closed

Ziegelmeier-“Topological Data Analysis of Knowledge Networks” Application closed

** Onsongo– “Characterizing Unclassified Sequence Reads in Metagenomics Data” Apply Here due March 23rd

Neuroscience/Psychology

Maddux-“Assessing the impact of reward change on Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior in rats.” Application closed

Physics

Cannon-“Observational Astronomy”

Heyman-“Ultrafast Optical Spectroscopy of Novel Photoconductors” Application closed

Williams-“Extragalactic Magnetic Fields”

Sociology

Muñoz and Busse-Cárdenas -“Placemaking under Surveillance: Transnational Latine Communities in the Midwest” Apply Now

Spanish and Portuguese