Spend 10 weeks exploring biological collections and their data through REU-EXTEND (EXTENded Data & Biological Collections). This NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program pairs students with researchers for hands-on work spanning field research, curation, genomics, bioinformatics, data science, and scientific communication.
Applications open Nov. 1 through the National Science Foundation’s Education & Training Application Portal.
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Research with PRI’s Biological Collections
REU-EXTEND focuses on biological collections and the extended specimen. An extended specimen includes a physical specimen, its associated records, and the connected data resources that add context. These connections bring together genetic, ecological, environmental, conservation, paleontological, and other disciplinary information to support research on climate change, disease transmission, invasive species, resource management, and biodiversity loss, among other areas.
Students will gain hands-on experience with the full data life cycle, from collecting and curating specimens to digitizing records, analyzing data, and presenting their findings.
Students work with researchers connected to the Illinois Natural History Survey’s biological collections and can select projects in areas such as herpetology, environmental DNA, tissues, fish, mollusks, crustaceans, insects, plant diseases, medical entomology, botany, and paleontology.
Amphibian & Reptile Collection
The INHS Herpetology Collection maintains more than 150,000 cataloged reptile and amphibian specimens representing 91 families, 670 genera, and 2,506 species from around the world.
Possible research topics include systematics, evolution, ecology, behavior, physiology, diet, disease, life histories, and related subjects.
Mentors: Enrique Santoyo Brito and Arianna Kuhn
eDNA for Conservation Biology
The Collaborative Conservation Genetics Lab conducts timely, accurate biodiversity assessments using samples from water, air, and land, linking DNA sequences to the organisms from which they originated.
Students may visit field sites, learn to collect tissue vouchers, and develop guided molecular research projects. Potential topics include the use of environmental DNA, or eDNA, in biodiversity monitoring and the effects of habitat disturbance and restoration on reptile and amphibian populations.
Mentor: Mark Davis
Fish Collection
The INHS Fish Collection holds more than 1.3 million cataloged specimens from about 170 families and more than 2,500 species. It is one of the largest collections of preserved fishes in the United States and the sixth-largest collection of Neotropical fishes in North America.
Using molecular tools, students may examine functional morphological diversity, population genetics, phylogeny, natural history, and related topics.
Mentor: Milton Tan
Mollusk Collection
The INHS Mollusk Collection includes more than 509,000 cataloged specimens in over 90,000 lots from more than 135 countries. The collection has extensive holdings of freshwater mussels, freshwater and terrestrial snails from the Midwestern United States, and cone shells.
Research topics may include biodiversity, ecology, evolution, natural history, fish-mussel host interactions, and related subjects.
Mentors: Alison Stodola and Rachel Vinsel
Crustacean Collection
The INHS Crustacean Collection contains about 15,000 Decapoda lots, most of which are crayfish. It is one of the largest crayfish collections in North America and supports taxonomic research and hands-on student work.
Students will collect, preserve, curate, photograph, and digitize specimens while developing project ideas that incorporate the extended specimen concept.
Mentor: Dusty Swedberg
Insect Collection
The INHS Insect Collection is one of the largest and oldest entomological collections in North America, with more than 7 million specimens from around the world. Its holdings include many Midwestern taxa, as well as global collections of bees, parasitic wasps, beetles, caddisflies, treehoppers, and planthoppers. It also contains noninsect arthropods, such as arachnids and myriapods.
Potential projects may explore the extended specimen concept by researching a taxonomic group or topic, such as biodiversity, morphology, color mechanisms, or parasite diversity.
Mentor: Chris Dietrich
Insect Vectors & Plant Diseases
The BioInteract Lab investigates how sap-feeding insects, bacterial plant pathogens, and host plants interact, aiming to understand their role in shaping biodiversity and disease emergence.
Potential projects may address insect and pathogen diversity, host range evolution, ecological interactions, and the development of predictive frameworks for risk assessment that support the health of plants, animals, people, and ecosystems. Sap-feeding insects can spread plant pathogens that affect agriculture.
Mentor: Valeria Trivellone
Medical Entomology
The INHS Medical Entomology Lab collects blood-feeding arthropods across Illinois, including mosquitoes, ticks, and flies.
Potential projects may address vector abundance, seasonal patterns, interactions with animals and people, and risks of diseases that spread between animals and humans.
Mentor: Chris Stone
Herbarium
Three herbaria make up the Illinois Natural History Survey’s plant collections, which contain more than 1.3 million specimens. Together, the three herbaria form the second-largest herbarium collection in Illinois and rank among the 10 largest in the United States.
Plant collections support student research on pollination, herbivory, disease ecology, and evolution.
Mentor: Brenda Molano-Flores
Illinois Center for Paleontology
The Illinois Center for Paleontology houses fossil plants and insects from the Pennsylvanian of Illinois, Midwestern Pleistocene mollusks, Early Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic, and fossil insects ranging from the Carboniferous to Pleistocene.
Students may examine, image, and document fossil plants and insects to study taxonomy, plant-insect interactions, and past environments.
Mentor: Sam Heads
Bird Collection
The Bird Collection houses more than 3,000 specimens representing over 200 species, many collected at the bases of television towers throughout Illinois. The collection includes eggs from across the United States dating from the late 1880s to the early 1930s, along with bird specimens from outside the United States.
Potential projects may use historical specimens, eggs, and collection records to study bird populations, genetic diversity, environmental contaminants, and conservation.
Mentor: Thomas J. Benson
Mammal Collection
Established in 1876, the Mammal Collection ranks among the 35 largest mammal collections worldwide. It houses over 30,000 lots representing over 39,000 individuals and more than 58,000 preparations.
Potential projects may use preserved specimens, tissues, photographs, and collection records to study mammal taxonomy, morphology, genetics, ecology, and conservation.
Mentor: Maximillian Allen
Professional Development
Participants will also attend professional development seminars and weekly science skills workshops on responsible and ethical conduct, scientific literacy, data literacy, science communication, database management, R, the ethical use of AI in research, and biodiversity informatics. Participants will also be part of the Illinois Summer Research Program Alliance, which offers weekly professional development workshops and social events with students from other REU programs across the university. Students will work with their mentors to prepare and present their summer research at the Illinois Summer Research Program Alliance STEM Career Exploration and Symposium.
Program Details
Dates & Format
The 2027 REU-EXTEND program will run from May 25 through Aug. 1. Ten students will take part in the 10-week, in-person program.
Most work will take place in Champaign-Urbana, but some projects may include local travel to field sites.
Stipend & Research Support
Participants will receive $700 per week for the 10-week duration of the program, for a total stipend of $7,000. Lodging in a university residence hall and meals are included, along with support for one round trip to and from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Each mentored research project will receive up to $2,000 for research project expenses.
Program Commitment
Participants must be available to work full-time, 37 hours per week, for the full program. Schedules will include research, professional development seminars, and science skills workshops.
Application Timeline
- Nov. 1, 2026: Application opens
- Jan. 31, 2027: Application closes
- Feb. 22, 2027: Offer letters sent
- March 19, 2027: Deadline to accept or decline an offer
- May 25, 2027: REU-EXTEND begins
- Aug. 1, 2027: REU-EXTEND ends
Application Materials
Applicants must submit a résumé or CV, transcripts, a 1-page personal statement describing their research interests and career goals, and two letters of recommendation. In their personal statement, they will also rank up to three biological collections and research topics that interest them most.
Choosing a Collection and Research Project
Collection and mentor assignments will be based on applicants’ ranked preferences, interest statements, previous experience, and available placements. Beginning in the second week of the program, students will work with their mentor to select and design an individual research project.
Students will prepare a two-page project proposal and follow a schedule for data collection, analysis, and preparation of their capstone presentation.
Students will meet with their mentors regularly to discuss their research projects. Program leaders will also hold three check-ins with students and mentors during the program.
Who Can Apply?
Applicants must be at least 18 years old by the program start date and be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents. They must be enrolled part-time or full-time in an associate or bachelor’s degree program in a relevant life sciences field both before and after the program dates and maintain GPA of 3.0 or higher. Applicants who will graduate before the end of the program are ineligible.
Previous experience in collections curation or biological research is not required.
Selection Considerations
Students from colleges with limited research opportunities, including community colleges, are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to students from institutions outside the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.