Summer Astronomy Programs for high school students

Summer Astronomy Programs for high school students

Schools / October 21, 2022

The Clinical Psychology Research Intensive will occur under the mentorship of Dr. Rebecca Ready and her undergraduate and graduate research assistants. Dr. Ready is Director of Clinical Training and a clinical neuropsychologist with expertise in the assessment of emotion, life quality, and well-being in adult and aging populations. She conducts research on emotion regulation and thinking abilities in younger and older adults. She also is interested in the assessment of adult learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and sports related concussion. Previous research intensive students have won awards for their work in Dr. Ready’s lab. The Ready lab can host up to 5 students.

Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep - Spencer Lab

Sleep is composed of multiple different brain states, each of which is associated with distinct cognitive functions. During this 6-week intensive laboratory training, students will be trained in cognitive neuroscience techniques such as EEG and behavioral testing. The Spencer Lab can host up to 6 students. Learn More

Infant Cognition - Cheries Lab

The Infant Cognition Lab at UMass Amherst, directed by Dr. Erik Cheries, studies how infants perceive and think about the world around them. We use a variety of behavioral methods to investigate early knowledge, such as measuring infants' looking time to various scenes, and observing their reaching/crawling choices in simple experimental games. We are currently examining questions related to infants' moral reasoning and their ability to think about the actions and intentions of other people.

Student interns will gain experience in all aspects of our research, including recruiting families to participate in our studies, constructing experimental stimuli, conducting experiment sessions with babies and their parents, coding and interpreting data, and attending weekly lab meetings when we discuss recent findings from our lab and the greater field. Together these experiences provide students with an engaging introduction to an exciting area of research area within Developmental Psychology. The Cheries lab can host 2 students. Learn More

Cognitive and Developmental Neuroscience (CoDeNeuro) - Park Lab (LAB FULL)

In the Cognitive and Developmental Neuroscience (CoDeNeuro) Lab, we use neuroimaging and neurophysiology (fMRI and EEG) approaches to study human cognition and cognitive development. We are currently examining questions related to children and adult's neural basis of mathematical thinking. Student interns will gain experience in all aspects of our research, including participant recruitment and conducting experiment sessions. Interns will also attend regular lab meetings when we discuss the scientific aspect behind everyday research activities. The Park lab can host 2 students. Learn More

Bird Conservation in Suburban Wilds - Warren Lab

In highly human-modified environments, never before seen combinations of species exist, as in highly invaded forest fragments in the ‘suburban wilds.’ But what is the conservation potential of these urban-suburban green spaces? And how should they be managed to maximize their value for critical taxa like migratory birds? Research in the Warren lab seeks to understand processes generating and maintaining biological diversity in a world that is becoming increasingly dominated by humans. Students will participate in a study on bird abundance and nesting success in Amherst conservation areas. The research involves maintaining trail cameras put out for surveying nest predators, assisting with searching for bird nests, and checking bird nests to establish if they are active or have been depredated or parasitized by cowbirds. In addition, students may assist with collecting and processing samples of leaf litter and arthropods in the lab and surveys for fruiting plants in the field. Students should be prepared to be outdoors in the early mornings (around sunrise) and be comfortable walking off of trail in woodlands. We are looking to engage students interested in animal behavior, conservation or ecology, who have good observation skills, are able to make careful observations, and can record them accurately. The Warren lab can host 1 student. Learn More

Atomically Thin Two Dimensional Crystals: Graphene and Beyond - Yan Lab (LAB FULL)

This six week program provides hands-on experimental experience with versatile two dimensional (2D) crystals. These crystals are one or a few atoms thick, and they exhibit amazing properties not seen in their three dimensional counterparts. The most well-known 2D crystal is graphene, as was highlighted by the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. This summer program will offer extensive training for students to make, observe and experiment with graphene as well as other types of 2D crystals, such as transition metal dichalcogenides. The Yan lab can host 2 students.

Food & Environmental Chemical Impact on Development of Obesity - Park Lab

The current epidemic of obesity cannot be explained completely by the dietary, social and/or behavioral changes that have occurred over the past several decades. In addition, there seems to be limited success in controlling obesity and type 2 diabetes incidences even with considerable efforts to modify dietary patterns and encourage the public to increase physical activity. Simultaneously, there are emerging evidences that persistent organic pollutants are linked to excessive weight gain and altered glucose homeostasis. With this background, the current focuses of research are [1] discovering food bioactives that can help prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes and [2] determining the potential causative environmental chemicals for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Potential projects involve determining the biochemical mechanisms of insecticides and food bioactives on altered lipid and glucose metabolisms using Caenorhabditis elegans model. Caenorhabditis elegans is a nematode, eukaryotic, multi-organ animal model, which is increasingly utilized for biological and medical studies including areas in obesity research. This is a useful model over other in vitro tissue culture and rodent animal models. The Park lab can host 3 students.

Is Your Food Safe to Eat? Exploring Nanotechnology on Food Safety - He Lab

Food contamination problems have become globalized and are the causes of many health problems and economic losses. There is an increasing need for rapid detection of food contaminants (chemicals and microbes) in foods, as traditional detection methods such as plating for microbes and chromatography for chemicals are usually time-consuming. We develop various nanotechnology based methods for rapid detection of pesticides, antibiotics, melamine, pathogens, and other chemical and biological contaminates in foods. These projects are supported by US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The He lab can host 2 students.