I would like to bring to your attention 3 short-term student ...

From: Cynthia D Trowbridge [mailto:cdt@uoregon.edu]
Subject: research opportunities for students - March 4th deadline
I would like to bring to your attention 3 short-term student opportunities for
intensive, field-oriented marine research in Ireland.
I have NSF funding through the International Research Experiences for
Students (IRES) program to bring U.S. students (undergraduate and
graduate students) to Ireland. Four outstanding American students per year
will conduct marine ecological research with foreign colleagues at Europe's
first statutory marine reserve (Lough Hyne Marine Reserve) that is faced
with imminent change due to large-scale alterations in the lough biota and
environmental forcing.
To be eligible, the students cannot have had any previous international
research or study-abroad experience (NSF requirement) [with the exception
of one grant-specified, returning student from 2012].
IRES students will participate in a pre-trip orientation workshop at OIMB and
then will travel together to Ireland for the 4-week project period. The dates
(18 Aug – 21 Sep) are between summer and fall academic terms for
universities on the quarter system. Students will work at the University
College Cork Renouf Lab, a small field station accessible by boat, and live in
a nearby cottage. Each IRES student will take the lead on one aspect of the
rapid, community-level changes of lough biota.
The grant will provide student stipend, airfare, and ground transportation to
OIMB for pre-trip workshop; dorm and meal costs at OIMB; transportation
costs to/from Ireland. Covered subsistence costs during the project will
include lodging at Lough Hyne, health and accident insurance, and bench
fees.
Project details and application forms are posted at:
http://pages.uoregon.edu/oimb/Faculty/Trowbridge.htm
The research web site with the 2012 student blog is: oimbucc.weebly.com
The 2013 participation dates are 18 August – 21 September 2013. The
application deadline is 4 March for the 2013 trip.
Please forward to colleagues and interested students.
Thank you for your past assistance making the 2012 IRES program a success and
supporting excellent students.
Cordially,
Cynthia D. Trowbridge, Ph.D. (cdt@uoregon.edu)
Senior Research Associate, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology
Associate Editor, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the U.K.

International
Research Experiences for Students (IRES):
Imminent change in a European marine reserve
18 Aug - 21 Sep 2013
Applicaon forms available at
hp://pages.uoregon.edu/oimb/Faculty/Trowbridge.htm
Objectives: No-take marine reserves are important tools to learn about marine systems and
to protect areas for future generations. These ideas, encapsulated by national and regional
marine reserve programs, offer an ideal opportunity to train young marine scientists about
international marine reserves: their structure, function, and management. Four outstanding
American students per year (2 undergraduate and 2 graduate students) will conduct marine
ecological research with foreign colleagues at Europe's first statutory marine reserve (Lough
Hyne Marine Reserve in Co. Cork, Ireland) that is faced with imminent change due to largescale
alterations in the lough biota. IRES students will participate in a pre-trip 5-day orientation
workshop at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology and then will travel together to Cork,
Ireland for the 4-week project period between summer and fall academic terms. Students will
work at the University College Cork Renouf Lab, a small field station accessible by boat, and
live in a nearby cottage. Each IRES student will take the lead on one aspect of the rapid,
community-level changes of lough biota. All projects will involve intertidal shore surveys and
shallow-water snorkel surveys. Graduate students will also conduct plankton tows and field
experiments to investigate larval abundance and settlement.
Projects: Project 1: IRES participants will document the population structure and
dynamics of juvenile and adult benthic stages of the purple urchin Paracentrotus lividus.
Students will estimate urchin population size, measure spatial variation in size structure, and
conduct cohort analyses for different areas of the lough. Project 2: Students will sample
planktonic urchin larvae and conduct settlement experiments to evaluate the "larval limitation"
and "post-settlement mortality" hypotheses to determine the basis for the recent dramatic urchin
decline. Project 3: Students will investigate experimentally whether the invasive brown alga
Sargassum muticum alters invertebrate recruitment patterns (barnacles, bryozoans,
sacoglossans, etc.)—either enhancing settlement or blocking larvae from the substrate—through
a series of field experiments in and around dense Sargassum beds. Project 4: Students will
document the dramatic proliferation of the native brown alga Cystoseira foeniculacea and
conduct field transplant experiments to determine whether declining urchin herbivory is the
primary causal factor.
Intellectual Merit: Projects 1&2: The urchin Paracentrotus lividus is one of the most
important species structuring the lough benthic communities. Elucidating the mechanism of
urchin decline will determine whether or not urchin populations will eventually increase without
human intervention (the NPW management team's preferred approach). Past research concluded
low temperature, causing low larval production, is the primary reason for the urchin decline.
Yet, low larval availability has not been demonstrated and alternative hypotheses have not been
tested. Project 3: Incursions of the invasive brown alga Sargassum muticum have strongly
affected the British Isles. The recent (2003-present) incursions at Lough Hyne have the potential
to alter invertebrate recruitment patterns; however, understanding whether Sargassum will
physically block recruits from the sea floor or enhance their settlement through reduced water
flow is unclear. These diametrically opposed outcomes will determine the consequences of the
alga's proliferation. Project 4: The dramatic proliferation of the native brown alga Cystoseira
foeniculacea throughout the lough, except where the remaining urchins occur, suggests that
declining herbivory may permit algal establishment and spread although eutrophication may be
significant as well. All four projects will document patterns and test causal mechanisms which
are widespread on Irish shores and of considerable ecological, economic, and conservation
concern.
Broader Impacts: IRES students will participate in crucial conservation efforts (eradicating
Sargassum) and long-term monitoring (24 invertebrate and 21 seaweed target species) at
historical sites surveyed annually since 1994 and originally in the 1950s. Baseline studies,
experimental results, conservation and eradication work, and project products will contribute to
the education of 12 American students and the local Irish stakeholders as well as assist the Irish
NPW agency in its management objectives. Students will create an online blog, produce
electronic identification sheets for Irish schools and visitors, give an oral presentation to UCC
colleagues, and share their unique experiences with peers at their home institutions.

Gate House
Details: The grant will provide (1) stipend, (2) airfare and ground transportation to OIMB for pre-trip workshop, (3) dorm and
meal costs at OIMB, (4) international airfare to Ireland, and (5) airport hotel and meal costs on day of arrival in and departure from
Cork, Ireland. In addition, covered subsistence during the project will include (6) lodging at 4-person self-catering rental at Lough
Hyne, (7) health and accident insurance, and (8) bench fees at the UCC Renouf Lab. Additional details (as they become available)
will be posted at the following website http://pages.uoregon.edu/oimb/Faculty/Trowbridge.htm under the Lough Hyne or IRES links.
UCC Renouf Lab
Inside the Gate House

Eligibility of students:
Applicants should be:
U.S. citizens or permanent residents
Undergraduate or graduate students at a U.S. university or college
Enrolled in a degree program at the time of application and program participation
Selection of students:
Because of the intense nature of working at Lough Hyne (with group living, communal
cooking, and daily cold-water snorkeling), we will screen eligible candidates based strongly
on letters of reference and personal telephone interviews. Students will need to be in
excellent physical condition for daily cold-water snorkeling, rowing, turning boulders, and
plankton tows. Applicants with coursework in phycology, invertebrate zoology, fish
biology, or marine ecology will benefit most from the experience, given the extraordinary
biotic diversity in the marine reserve. Because the goal of the IRES program is to provide
international research experiences to students, applicants with little to no previous
international experience will be considered most favorably.
Pre-trip workshop:
IRES participants will come to OIMB for a 5-day pre-trip orientation after summer term
ends. Students will be housed in the OIMB dorm and will attend a workshop about the
habitats and ecologically important organisms they will see. Furthermore, we will discuss
sampling techniques, field experiments, and research papers about marine reserves,
highlighting Lough Hyne work and discussing it in the context of other studies. Additional
topics to be covered include:
Boat safety, boater's card, & nautical knots
Tidal patterns, tidal tables, waves, and tidal currents
Designing a research plan: hypotheses, controls, replication, sample size, etc.
Sampling: transects, quadrats, random numbers tables, etc.
Best practices keeping a notebook: documenting, transcribing, and backing up data
Data analysis & presentation: statistics, image analysis, and constructing graphs
Finding and reading primary literature in marine ecology
Scientific ethics: integrity, values, conflicts of interest, and openness
Working in a sensitive habitat: conservation issues in a marine reserve
International travel:
Trowbridge will handle travel arrangements (from students' homes to OIMB, from OIMB to
Ireland, and from Ireland to home) and travel insurance. We will all travel together to Cork
Airport in Ireland. We will spend the night in an airport hotel, enabling IRES students to
contact their families about their safe arrival. The following day, we will rent a vehicle,
drive to Cork to meet the research coordinator (McAllen), and then drive to the lough to get
set up for our work.
IRES Period:
We will work at the UCC lab which can accommodate 5-6 people total. We will do
communal cooking with all students participating in food shopping, preparation, clean-up,
etc. Students will start their projects immediately and work on them or the group activities
for the 4-week international period. For safety reasons, all fieldwork will be done in pairs
(or larger groups) and walkie-talkies will be used for contact (due to limited cell phone
coverage due to surrounding hills). Each evening, we will discuss our progress and plan the
following day’s work. We will have regular group discussions of recent papers about the
lough or the region. We will also have regular evening discussions on the follow topics:
Scientific writing in marine ecology (format, content, style, grammar)
Graduate school: how to choose and gain entry into graduate school, expectations,
experiences, peer support, and networking
How to present research work as a poster, oral presentation, and paper
Scientific ethics: authorship, credit, acknowledgment, error, negligence, & misconduct
We will work with each student daily to discuss how to analyze his/her data, how to make
the next step in the project, etc. Given the few external distractions (no TV or internet,
limited radio), students would be fully immersed in research, scientific discussions, or
exploration of the lough and environs. Regular trips to town and field trips further afield will
be made to ensure cultural enrichment, internet access, and social harmony.

Past Student Excursions :
Alter Wedge Tomb
Balleydehob
Balmore
Bantry Bay
Bonane Heritage Park
Bunray Castle & Folk Park
Castletownbere
Cape Clear Island
Cliffs of Moher
Derreen Gardens
Drombeg Stone Circle
Dunboy Castle
Fastnet Lighthouse
Glandore Harbour
Glengariff
Healy Pass
Kenmare
Kinsale
Mizen Head
Ring of Kerry
Ring of Beara
Ross Castle
Skellig Islands
Skibbereen Heritage Centre
Spanish Point
Timoleague
Toe Head
University College Cork
etc.

2007
Kae Benne (OIMB) & Maya Wolf (OIMB)
2010
Briney Dlouhy (OIMB)
Lough Hyne Students
2006
Alix Laferriere (OIMB) & Stephanie Schroeder (OIMB)
2009
Josh Lord (OIMB) & Laura Garlie (PSU/OIMB)
2011
Marissa Paulling (OIMB) & Briney Dlouhy (OIMB)

Letters of Reference:
OIMB ‐ UCC IRES Program
U.S.-Ireland International Research Experience for Students (IRES)
Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION REQUIRED
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: 03/04/2013
Applicants should request letters of reference from three individuals able to comment on
the applicant’s:
(1) academic background
(2) readiness to participate in a rigorous research experience at an international site
(3) ability to work and live in an intensive group environment (communal, high-density
living situation)
(4) willingness to work under adverse weather conditions
(5) capacity to work independently (with mentor supervision)
Letters should be from university faculty or active research scientists in the field. Please provide
the reference request form, completed FERPA waiver section, and completed application to each
referee.
Reference letters should be submitted by the writers directly to Dr. Cynthia Trowbridge
(cdt@uoregon.edu).
FERPA Waiver:
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA; 34 C.F.R. Part 99) provides rights and
protections regarding the disclosure of records held by educational institutions. These rights and
protections apply to documents, files, and materials in whatever medium, which contain
information related directly to a student and from which a student can be individually identified.
By signing the waiver statement below, I waive my right to inspect under FERPA the reference
letter solicited herewith. This waiver applies to all future holders of the solicited letter.
I waive my right of access to this reference letter.
_________________________________________________
(Applicant signature and date)
Or
I do not waive my right of access to this reference letter. (If waiver statement is unsigned, the
student is specifically reserved the right of access to this reference letter.)
_________________________________________________
(Applicant signature and date)

Recommender Instructions:
OIMB ‐ UCC IRES Program
Please read and complete this reference request form, supplying the information requested
below. If you wish to use your own institutional stationery, please attach this completed
form to your letter.
Please sign and date the reference report where indicated.
Please transmit completed form electronically, together with your reference report: Dr.
Cynthia D. Trowbridge (cdt@uoregon.edu).
The deadline for electronic submission is 5 p.m. Pacific time on February 1, 2013.
Reference Report:
Recommender’s Name _________________________________________
Department __________________________________________________
Institution ___________________________________________________
Address _____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Telephone ___________________________________________________
Fax ________________________________________________________
E-mail ______________________________________________________
1. How long, and in what capacity, have you known the applicant?
2. Please explain how participation in the OIMB - UCC IRES Program would benefit the
applicant in the pursuit of his/her academic and professional goals. Specifically, what significant
approaches, opportunities, or skills do you feel the applicant will obtain through program
participation?
3. Describe the applicant’s potential for academic and professional achievement. Specifically,
please comment on the applicant’s readiness to conduct scholarly research at an international site
under this IRES program.
4. I rank this applicant in the top ______ % of undergraduate students I have known. If the
student is currently a graduate student, I would rank this applicant in the top ______ % of
graduate students I have known.
5. Recommender’s Signature _______________________________________
Date _________________________

Application Instructions:
U.S.-Ireland International Research Experiences for Students (IRES)
Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION REQUIRED
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION:
03/04/2013
1. Complete all sections of the student application and the informational section on the top of each of the
recommender forms. Applications should be typewritten and submitted electronically.
2. Be certain to include all required information in the spaces provided and to adhere to specific space
limitations where noted. Please send sealed, official undergraduate (and graduate, if applicable) academic
transcripts to Dr. Cynthia Trowbridge at P.O. Box 1995, Newport, OR 97365. Unofficial transcripts are
not acceptable.
3. Please sign and date the application on the final page.
4. Send the completed electronic application to:
Dr. Cynthia D. Trowbridge: cdt@uoregon.edu
Subject line: U.S.-Ireland IRES Program
5. Letters of reference from three recommenders should be submitted directly to Dr. Cynthia D.
Trowbridge at cdt@uoregon.edu or P.O. Box 1995, Newport, OR 97365. Please send the letter-ofreference
forms to the letter writers.
U.S.-Ireland International Research Experiences for Students (IRES)

cdt@uoregon.edu P.O. Box 1995, Newport, OR 97365
Lough Hyne IRES Program
1. Applicant's Details:
Applicant Name: __________________________________________
Gender: Female Male
Institution: _______________________________________________
Academic Department: __________________________________________
Year in College/University: Sophomore Junior Senior MS Student PhD Student
If you are a senior, please list graduate schools to which you have applied:_______________
___________________________________________________________________________
If graduate student, what year? 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
If you are a finishing MS student, please list graduate schools to which you have
applied:_______________________________________________________________________
Please confirm that you are a student a time of application and will be at time of participation: yes no
Citizenship Status (check one): U.S. Citizen Permanent Resident
2. Institutional Contact Information:
Academic Department: __________________________________________
Institution: ____________________________________________________
Institutional Address:____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Telephone: _______________________ Fax:____________________________
E-mail: __________________________
3. Home Contact Information (during the academic year):
Home Address:_________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Telephone:_______________________ Fax:____________________________
E-mail:__________________________
4. Permanent Home Contact Information: Same as above
Home Address:_________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Telephone:_______________________ Fax:____________________________
E-mail:__________________________
5. Academic Information:
Academic Major: __________________________________________
Degree Objective: B.A., B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Other_______
Expected Graduation Date: ____________________________ (as MM/YYYY)
Name of: Department Chair _______________________________________ or
Major Advisor __________________________________________
Grade Point Average (GPA): Overall GPA ________ Major GPA ________
Please check all courses that have been taken or will be taken in spring or summer term:
Invertebrate Biology Spring Summer
Marine Botany (Phycology) Spring Summer
Ecology Spring Summer
Ecological Methods Spring Summer
Statistics Spring Summer
Scientific Writing Spring Summer
Independent Research____________________________________________________
U.S.-Ireland International Research Experiences for Students (IRES)

6. Special Skills: Please check all that apply.
SCUBA Swimming Snorkeling Cold-water snorkeling
First aid CPR First Responder
Rowing GPS use Blogging
Boating experience Boat-driving Boater's card (any state)
Driving a manual transmission vehicle Driving on the left side of the road
Leadership experience (e.g., RA in dorm, camp leader, etc.):____________________
Excel Sigma Plot Other
7. Domestic Skills:
Ability to live and work with no Wi-Fi or Internet access
Ability to live and work without a daily warm/hot shower
Ability to cook dinner for a group of 5-6 people
Ability to cook a vegetarian meal (if needed) for a group of 5-6 people
Planning and executing educational and social activities within student groups
Willingness to enforce domestic rules and live within a diverse community
Willingness to hand-wash/line-dry your laundry or to pay for drop-off/pick-up laundry service
8. Research Interests:
Provide a concise description of your research interests relative to the four listed projects that are
available under the OIMB IRES Program.
State how participation in the program will benefit your academic training and how it will further
your intended professional career.
The goal of the IRES program is to give U.S. students with little or no international experience the
opportunity to participate in an international, collaborative research experience. Have you ever been
outside the U.S.? If so, please include details (when/where/why) in your statement and why you
consider yourself still eligible.
Please limit your narrative to two pages of text (font size 12). This narrative will used to evaluate
your research interests, program eligibility, and writing skills.
9. Reference Letters:
Have been requested from the following individuals:
Names and e-mail addresses:
_____________________________ Received (Date: ____________________)
_____________________________ Received (Date: ____________________)
_____________________________ Received (Date: ____________________)
10. Passport Requirements:
A passport valid for at least 9 months after the return date will be needed for program participation. Do
you currently have a passport? Yes, No
If yes, then:
Passport Number: ________________ Passport Name: __________________
Location of Issue: ________________ Date of Expiration: _______________
11. Applicant Certification and Signature:
I certify that the information provided in this application is correct and true to the best of my knowledge.
Furthermore, I certify that I am currently enrolled as a student (at time of application and time of
participation).
Applicant’s Signature:_______________________________ Date:________________________
U.S.-Ireland International Research Experiences for Students (IRES)