Description

This REU site leverages the assets of two institutions with strength in undergraduate education and research to expand research opportunities for a diverse population of undergraduates early in their education. REU participants will spend five weeks at the campus of Hobart & William Smith Colleges in the heart of New York’s Finger Lakes Region where they will work with a team of mentors to devise research projects centered around sources, sinks, transport, and environmental impacts of microplastics. Student research teams will build on several years of research in the area and decades of experience among the faculty mentors. After collecting samples and conducting preliminary laboratory analyses, students will travel to the campus of the City College of New York where they complete more complex analyses using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, FTIR microscope, and ion chromatograms. At the conclusion of the 9-week program, participants will communicate their results to their peer community and prepare presentations for professional conferences later in the year.

https://www.hws.edu/academics/microplastic-reu/application.aspx

Application deadline: January 26, 2026

Program dates: June 15--August 14, 2026