All students present their REU project findings at a dedicated undergraduate research symposium at Texas A&M University, and many go on to present their research at national conferences (American Geophysical Union, AGU). The REU projects developed as part of this program also sometimes become senior or honors theses at students’ home institutions. Browse the links below to learn more about our previous projects.
- 2025 Field Projects
- Hydrologic and Nutrient Controls on Biofilm Dynamics in Tropical Freshwater Systems, Abelino Garcia (Mentor: Noah Yao)
- Land Use Impacts on Tropical Soil Aggregate Structure and its Effects on Hydroloical Properties, Vicktoria Holdaway (Mentor: Dr. Salvo Calabrese & Dr. Peyton Smith)
- Mineralogical and Chemical Patterns in Volcanic Soils Across Elevation Gradients in Costa Rica, Cassandra Montano Arellano (Mentor: Dr. Youjun Deng)
- Oxidation of Sulfide Minerals in Volcanic Sediments Reduces the Mass Flux of Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Aguas Zarcas River, Costa Rica, Mehreen Rahman (Mentor: Dr. Peter Knappett)
- Soil Aggregation Effects on Water Movement and Nutrient Dynamics Across Three Costa Rican Land Uses, Kayla Mitchell (Mentor: Dr. Julie Howe)
- Uncovering the Impact of Leaf Cutter Ants Nesting Activity on Soil Biogeochemical Properties in a Tropical Forest Plantation, Bailey Casteneda (Mentor: Dr. Felipe Aburto)
- Using Simulated Rainfall on Large Leaves GRowing in Neotropical Climates to Determine Convergent or Divergent Water Flow Paths Among Tree Species, Pedro Mendoza-Zamore (Mentor: Dr. Georgianne Moore)
- 2024 Field Projects
- The Impact of Surface Geology on Export of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon in Tropical Rainforest Streams in Costa Rica, Emily Vanderworth (Mentor: Dr. Peter Knappett)
- Microbial respiration rates and carbon dynamics of native and PES forests in a Costa Rican tropical montane forest, Jamie Bergeron (Mentor: Dr. Peyton Smith)
- Modeling Biofilm Dynamics of a Montane Tropical Stream in Costa Rica, AJ Jefferson (Mentor: Dr. Noah Yao)
- Stream Scaling and Hydrological Variability in Costa Rican Montane Watersheds, Henry Anderson (Mentors: Dr. Tony Cahill and Kelly Brumbelow)
- Identifying the Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Respiration Rates and Organic Carbon Accumulation Across Aggregate Sizes in a Tropical Montane Forest, Keegyn Fields (Mentor: Dr. Salvo Calabrese)
- Soil labile sugar retention in a 20-year-old H. alchorneoides PES plantation and implications for carbon sequestration in managed tropical rainforests, Rowan Tsao (Mentor: Dr. Georgianne Moore)
- Assessing Atta Cephalotes Bioturbation Impacts and Soil Property Predictability Using NIR-Spectroscopy, Anastasiia Pestereva (Mentor: Dr. Felipe Aburto)
- 2023 Field Projects
- Effectiveness of Education Extension in Costa Rican Agriculture, Dylan Dannecker (Mentor: Dr. Janie Moore)
- Assessing Annual Growth of Rainforest Trees Across an Elevational Gradient Using Isotopic Tracers, Trevor Woodyard (Mentor: Dr. Georgianne Moore)
- Effectiveness of a Payment for Ecosystem Services Plantation for Carbon Storage and Cycling in a Tropical Premontane Forest in Costa Rica, Anna Dunnebacke (Mentor: Dr. Salvo Calabrese)
- Optical Properties of Tropical Dissolved Organic Carbon Vary Across Different Hydrologic Conditions, Emily Everton (Mentor: Dr. Garrett McKay)
- Soil Characteristic Response with Trees to Topographic and Slope Position Differences in a Premontane Rainforest, Jenna Baljunas (Mentor: Dr. Tony Cahill)
- Leaf-cutter ant pedoturbation affects soil carbon and Infiltration dynamics in a Planted Tropical Forest, Alex Torres (Mentor: Dr. Felipe Aburto)
- Rainfall Pauses in a Pre-Montane Rainforest Drive Fermentive Degradation of Organic Carbon from Tropical Andisols, Carleigh Wachtel (Mentor: Dr. Peter Knappett)
- Do Soil Moisture Dyanmics Regulate Soil Carbon Accumulation and CO2 Emissions in Tree Canopy Soils?, Fabiola Prieto-Rivera (Mentor: Dr. Peyton Smith)
- 2021 Field Projects
- Community Perceptions of Energy and Electrical Companies in the Penas Blancas Watershed in the Province of Alajuela, Costa Rica, Avriel Null (Mentor: Leslie Ruyle)
- Video of Presentation at Texas A&M University: https://youtu.be/N996rGI_rH4
- Potential CO2 Removal by Enhanced Weathering of Olivine in the Tropics, George Guillen (Mentor: Dr. Salvo Calabrese)
- Video of Presentation at Texas A&M University: https://youtu.be/Qi5zEAGMrrw
- Inorganic and Organic Carbon Fluxes from Tropical Andisols and Andesitic Saprolite in a Pre-Montane Rainforest, Shayla Husted (Mentor: Dr. Peter Knappett)
- Video of Presentation at Texas A&M University: https://youtu.be/I9QJtcNH4Ws
- Canopy Soil Capture: An Overlooked Source or Sink of Carbon in Humid Tropical Forests? Hannah Connuck (Mentor: Dr. Peyton Smith)
- Highlighted by AGU, Soil in Old-Growth Treetops can Store More Carbon than Soils Under our Feet, 14 December 2021
- Invited Webinar hosted by PP Systems, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUAsbRZ5Ido
- Using Time-Domain Electromagnetics to Classify the Composition of Subsurface Media with a Focus on Bedrock Contribution to Streamflow, Ansari Haidari (Mentor: Dr. Mark Everett)
- Video of Presentation at Texas A&M University: https://youtu.be/zzcz1WbsuZ4
- UAS Measured Profiles of Micrometerological Conditions above Contrasting Land-use Types, Cayla Greer (Mentors: Drs. Gretchen Miller, J. Kelly Brumbelow)
- Video of Presentation at Texas A&M University: https://youtu.be/guwqEPP9qaY
- Microclimate Changes Across the Elevation Gradient of a Costa Rican Tropical Forest, Connor Owens (Mentor: Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon)
- Video of Presentation at Texas A&M University: https://youtu.be/04pZLaP_zPs
- UAS Capability of Measuring Micrometeorrological and Biogeochemical Spatial Variabilty Above Vegeration in Mountainous Terrain, Erin Kemp (Mentors: Drs. Gretchen Miller, J. Kelly Brumbelow)
- Video of Presentation at Texas A&M University: https://youtu.be/aQ_fYR3HcMM
- Community Perceptions of Energy and Electrical Companies in the Penas Blancas Watershed in the Province of Alajuela, Costa Rica, Avriel Null (Mentor: Leslie Ruyle)
- 2020 Virtual Projects
- Time-Lapse GPR Aids Investigation of Depth and Timing of Crop-Available Soil Water Under Various Agricultural Practices, Jeremy Guerro (Mentor: Dr. Mark Everett)
- Soil Carbon Persists Under Prescribed Fire and Experimental Drought in a Semi-Arid Savanna, Isabella Krusec (Mentor: Dr. Peyton Smith)
- Getting to the Root of Nutrient Uptake: An Unrecognized Function of Aerial Roots in Tank Epiphytes, D. Alex Gordon (Mentor: Dr. David Reed)
- Using Wet-Dry Forest Extremes to Construct Water Budgets and Improve Watershed Modeling in Hardwood Forests of East Texas USA, Mairead Mooney (Mentor: Dr. Georgianne Moore)
- 2019 Field Projects
- Epiphytic diversity and distribution along elevation gradients in a Costa Rican premontane rainforest, Olivia Santiago (Mentor: Dr. Spalink)
- Rain or Shine: Changes in Water and Mass Fluxes of a Pristine Watershed in Response to Rainfall Events and Regional Drought, Daniel Riddle (Mentor: Dr. Brumbelow, Dr. Peter Knappett)
- Hydro-geochemical Processes Driving Arsenic Concentrations in Springs in the Highlands of Costa Rica, Glen Aguilar (Mentor: Dr. Peter Knappett)
- Spatiotemporal chemical analysis of surface water and precipitation in the pre-montane rainforest of Costa Rica, Charise Culver (Mentor: Dr. Chellam)
- Morphology and Hydrologic Behavior of Exfiltration Sites in a Small Watershed in Costa Rica, Rua Hamid (Mentor: Dr. Brumbelow)
- Do payments for ecosystem services promote soil carbon sequestration in the tropics? Andreas Khechfe (Mentor: Dr. Peyton Smith)
- Year-to-year variability in hydrometeorology of a tropical montane rainforest, Melissa Zapata (Mentor: Dr. Gretchen Miller)
- Impact of Drought Severity and Topography on Tropical Forests of Costa Rica, Kayla Weatherby (Mentor: Dr. Gao)
- *Manual Flores (REU from 2018, returned to do Senior Thesis), Physiological adaptations of two shade tolerant species, Carapa guianensis and Otoba novogranatensis, to microclimatic conditions at two elevations, in Costa Rica
- Publication: Flores III, M.R., Aparecido, L.M.T., Miller, G.R. and Moore, G.W., 2021. Assessing Forest Level Response to the Death of a Dominant Tree within a Premontane Tropical Rainforest. Forests, 12(8), p.1041.doi.org/10.3390/f12081041
- 2018 Field Projects
- Correlation of Fog/Rain Presence and Plant Functions in a Transitional Tropical Rain Forest, Alexander Duffy (Mentor: Dr. Gretchen Miller)
- The Effect of Tropical Land Use on Soil Carbon Dynamics: Does reforestation mitigate greenhouse gas emissions?, Maria Rivera (Mentor: Dr. Peyton Smith)
- Electromagnetic Geophysical Mapping of a Stream Channel in a Tropical Montane Rainforest in Costa Rica, Abigail Keebler (Mentor: Dr. Mark Everett)
- Pioneering Analysis of the Canopy Boundary Layer Using UAV Technology to Collect Vertical Profiles over a Pre-Monane Tropical Rainforest, Elizabeth Prior (Mentor: Dr. Kelly Brumbelow)
- Publication from this work: Prior, E.M., Brumbelow, K. and Miller, G.R., 2020. Measurement of above‐canopy meteorological profiles using unmanned aerial systems. Hydrological Processes, 34(3), pp.865-867. doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13631
- Plant Functional Traits of Carapa guianensis, a Widespread Tropical Tree, Adapted to Local CLimate Conditions at Two Elevations in Costa Rica, Manuel Flores (Mentor: Dr. Georgianne Moore)
- Tree Growth and Species Diversity in Premontane Neotropical Forests in Costa Rica, Ayhan Yener (Mentor: Dr. Georgianne Moore)
- Measuring Mass Fluxes of Nutrients to a First-Order Stream within a Pristine Mountain Rainforest in Costa Rica, Lia Gomez (Mentor: Dr. Peter Knappett)
- Streanflow Responses to Runoff and Shallow Groundwater Fluctuations within Two Nested Watersheds in Costa Rica, William David Nguyen (Mentor: Dr. Peter Knappett)
- Mass Fluxes of Nitrogen and Carbon from Soil Water to a First-Order Mountain Stream in a Pristine Costa Rican Forest in Response to Individual Rain Event (Presented at Geological Society of America, 2020), W. Nguyen REU in 2018 (Mentor: Dr. Peter Knappett).
- Undergraduate Theses Projects