The Shanks lab is at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.  I accept students through the University of Oregon’s Biology graduate program, but students generally live, work, and take classes at OIMB rather than on main campus in Eugene.  If you are interested in applying to my lab, please send me an email to tell me about your self and your interests.  It is helpful to include your scientific background and why you are interested in joining my lab.  

There are usually opportunities to volunteer in the Shanks lab, which is an excellent way to gain experience in both the lab and in the field.  Current opportunities often include boat work, plankton sampling, and microscope work to learn how to identify zooplankton species. 

This project looks at nearshore oceanographic features such as topographical fronts and larval distributions.  We want to understand how shallow water processes interact with larvae of intertidal invertebrates, crustaceans, and fish.  A volunteer might help in oceanographic data collection outside of the estuary, zooplankton sampling, and microscope work to identify and count important larvae and other zooplankters.  This is a great chance to gain experience working on small boats and in basic physical and biological oceanographic sampling techniques.   

Contact: marley@uoregon.edu

Many intertidal invertebrates go through development offshore of their rocky intertidal adult habitat.  The last step for an intertidal larva in returning home is crossing the surfzone--a potentially difficult task.  This project aims to study amount of mixing between the surfzone and offshore.  We are interested to see if there are different communities of plankton in these bodies of water, which may be indicative of limited transport.  A volunteer would gain valuable experience in zooplankton identification and counting.

Contact: marley@uoregon.edu