Breadcrumb
Opportunities for Students
Volunteering
Limited volunteer opportunities exist in the VM collection, and are dependent on availability and interest of the applicant. Types of tasks assigned to volunteers vary from inventorying the collection, to specimen preparation. Students interested in specimen preparation can request to be put on our prep email list - on weeks when we do preps a list of available specimens will be sent out mid week for student to sign up for, and preps will take place on Friday. Tasks other than prepping may take place at other times during the week. Interested students should fill out this volunteer form. Please email museum@humboldt.edu if you have any questions.
Undergraduate or Graduate Thesis/Directed Study (BIOL 490/499 or 690/699)
These courses are a series of ways for undergraduates (BIOL 490/499) and graduates (BIOL 690/699) to earn course credit for conducting research and writing a thesis. BIOL 499 can provide one or two units for undergraduates who participate in research projects. Students can also perform more intensive research and complete a written thesis (BIOL 490). Enrollment in these courses is by permission number only, and there is limited availability for mentoring within the museum, so interested students should contact the curator Dr. Silvia Pavan at Silvia.Pavan@humboldt.edu or the collections manager. Some current research projects are highlighted below.
Museum student Tokay Alberts curating weasels and skunks.
Student Spotlight
Pricilla Ceja
Pricilla Ceja (she/her) is focusing her research on comparing external, cranio-dental, and baculum morphology on closely related species of South American Neotropical tree squirrels, specifically those in the "Microsciurus" flaviventer group: "Microsciurus" flaviventer, "Microsciurus" sabanillae, and a putative new species referenced to as "Microsciurus species 2". Under the advice of Dr. Silvia Pavan, her goal of this project is to assess morphological variation in this group and contrast it with genetic variation to determine how many species are supported using an integrative taxonomic approach.
Isamar Lopez-Argueta
Hi my name is Isamar (he/him/el) and I’m a third year wildlife major. Recently, I have realized that I want to pursue a career in evolutionary biology and paleontology, so my experience volunteering at the Vertebrate Museum has been a rewarding and exciting opportunity for me to explore these new areas of interest. I am currently doing a BIOL499 project in Dr. Karen Kiemnec-Tyburczy’s lab focusing on the impacts salinity has towards amphibians, specifically the Pacific Treefrog, and their distribution in wetlands.