REU Physical Sciences Program
The Research Experience for Undergraduates Program in Physical Sciences (Earth and Planetary Sciences and Astrophysics) is funded by the National Science Foundation. The Museum's Division of Physical Sciences—in collaboration with the City University of New York (CUNY)—is pleased to offer summer undergraduate research opportunities in Astrophysics, and Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Our program brings approximately eight students to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City each summer for a ten-week experience working with our curators, faculty, and post-doctoral fellows. Students receive a $6,400 traineeship stipend, as well as per diem costs for housing and meals, relocation expenses, and transportation subsidies. Housing is made available at nearby International House.
In addition to conducting original research projects throughout the summer, students participate in a series of weekly meetings at which they discuss their research, present informal progress reports, and engage in discussions and seminars regarding scientific research, graduate school, and research career opportunities. At the conclusion, they deliver oral presentations of their work and prepare publication quality research papers. The program is open to all students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, in any two or four year undergraduate degree program, who will not have completed a bachelor's degree before September 1, 2024.
Who Should Apply
All students in the program must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents of the United States. Students must be entering or continuing in an Associates or Baccalaureate degree program following their summer internship. As part of the National Science Foundation's commitment to broadening participation in STEM fields, we especially encourage students who come from community colleges, undergraduate-only institutions, and minority-serving institutions to apply. For assistance with application process, contact [email protected]
Summer 2025 Physical Sciences Project Titles
Analyzing Gas Properties in Star-Forming Clouds
Mentors: Sabrina Appel and Mordecai-Mark Mac Low
Stars form out of cold, dense gas that collapses under its own gravity. Newly formed stars then produce various modes of stellar feedback that alter the density and temperature of the surrounding gas, impacting the formation of subsequent stars. One early mode of stellar feedback is protostellar jet feedback: newly formed stars inject narrow jets of material into the surrounding gas, significantly altering the distribution and properties of the gas.
Studying star formation using detailed computer simulations can give us valuable insights into the many physical mechanisms that influence star formation. In particular, we use a sophisticated numerical simulation called Torch to study the formation and evolution of star clusters. By comparing runs with and without protostellar jet feedback, we can better understand how jets impact the formation of stars and star clusters. This summer project will analyze the density distribution of the gas in simulation runs with and without jet feedback, in order to test how jets impact the gas properties in newly forming star clusters.
Brown Dwarfs in New York City Research Group
Mentor: Jacqueline Faherty, Ph.D.
The Brown Dwarfs in New York City Research group (BDNYC) is at the forefront of characterizing objects at the planetary mass boundary. We host a wealth of observational data (spectra, astrometry, photometry, etc) on thousands of sources and expect to start seeing James Webb Space Telescope data by the summer of 2022. An REU student would be invited into one of several different projects ongoing at BDNYC.
The variety of choices range from studying the weather related phenomena on warm, young giant worlds; the diversity of characteristics in the coldest isolated giant worlds, looking at the orbital characteristics of giant worlds around very nearby stars, or examining the rotation rate evolution for the highest to lowest mass components of nearby associations. We are extremely open to working within the skill set of the right student so we are also open to adapting any project to the REU student's preference.
Can You Form the Ice Giants Using Only Pebbles and Gas?
Mentor: Linn Eriksson
Uranus is 14.5 times more massive than Earth and has a semimajor axis of 19.1au, placing it around 10au beyond the orbit of Saturn. The second ice giant, Neptune, is slightly more massive and has a semimajor axis of 30.0au, placing it at the inner edge of the Kuiper Belt. Unlike the Solar System’s gas giants, Uranus and Neptune are primarily composed of heavy elements, with a hydrogen-helium-fraction of less than or about 20%.
The formation of Uranus and Neptune has been challenging for planet formation models for several decades. In this project, the student will study the formation of the ice giants using an existing semi-analytic planet formation code written in Python. This code performs simple dust evolution, planetesimal formation, pebble accretion and gas accretion. The student will perform simulations with varying initial conditions to investigate if and when it is possible to form Uranus- and Neptune-like planets. If there is time and interest, the student can expand the code by implementing planet migration and study its impact on the results.
Diamonds and Their Inclusions as a Unique Window into the Deep Earth
Mentors: Rondi Davies, Kate Kiseeva and Nester Korolev
The only means by which we can directly sample Earth’s deep mantle is from diamonds and other materials brought to Earth surface in deep seated magmas (~250 km deep) such as kimberlites and related rocks. Diamonds are inert to the many processes that modify the host mantle through time. The majority originate from depths of between 140 and 200 km, corresponding to an origin within the thick non-convecting subcratonic lithospheric roots of Archean cratons. In addition, rare diamonds are derived from greater depths extending into the transition zone and lower mantle (at least 700 km). These ultra-deep diamonds and their mineral inclusions are the only direct samples from the convecting mantle available for study.
The goal of this study is to characterize suites of diamonds from Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa. Methods of characterization include:
- Optical and morphological characterization of each diamond including color, shape, growth, and resorption features, and impurities such as mineral or fluid inclusions.
- Nitrogen contents and nitrogen aggregation statues using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. This is important for the purpose of diamond classification and can help to determine a diamonds mantle thermal maturation history.
- Identification of trapped mineral and fluid inclusions by Raman spectroscopy. The Raman beam can penetrate the diamond to up to depths of ≥ 500 microns provided the diamond is transparent and allows for the identification of the type of and possibility of co-existing inclusions.
Results will be interpreted in the context of the composition, geochemistry, and evolution of the Earth’s mantle, as well as the formation and preservation of cratons and the geodynamics deep within Earth.
Gravitational Lensing - Databases and Analysis
Mentor: Georgios Vernardos, PhD
Gravitational lensing is a rare phenomenon that even Einstein did not think would be possible to observe. Yet, with our current advanced observatories, both in space and on the ground, we are able to obtain pristine and impressive images of such lenses. These new discoveries that are happening almost on a daily basis now, will increase the sample of approx. 1000 known lenses by about 100 times. This ‘zoo’ of lenses, apart from including very rare systems, for example quasars lensing other quasars, lensed supernovae, etc, will constitute a treasure trove of information regarding cosmology, dark matter, and galaxy evolution in general.
The Strong Lensing Database (SLED) is an invaluable resource that can catalogue and enrich the information of all these lenses – it has been called the ‘facebook’ of lenses. It is hosted at AMNH and it is continuously being extended and improved. An REU student will join the development of SLED and contribute to it. There are also opportunities to analyze the actual data and obtain results that could be offered as part of the project as well.
How Many Is Enough: A Geostatistics Approach to Detrital Zircon Analyses
Cathodoluminescence image of a detrital zircon.© AMNH
Example of an age-probability plot typical for detrital zircon analyses.© AMNH
Mentors: Denton Ebel, Julia Gonzales and Steven Jaret
Detrital zircon analysis has become a mainstay of sedimentary geology, tectonics, and basin analysis, particularly for determining the source of major siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. This kind of study assumes that the age of zircons in a sedimentary rock reflect the source of sediments and by comparing age-probability populations of zircons in sedimentary rocks a geologist can assess whether or not different rock units have similar sediment sources. This then allows interrelations of unit correlation, depositional environments, and connectivity of basins and fluvial networks in the rock record. A critical part of this widely used technique, however, is knowing how many individual analyses are needed to ensure age population comparisons are not biased and that enough grains were measured to capture both the statistical and geological uncertainty.
This project will use a large dataset of 1000 analyses from the same rock to randomly select subsets of the same dataset and compare age-population statistics while varying the number of ages in each subset. This coding-based project will analytically and graphically assess the effect of number of ages on our ability to uniquely distinguish age populations. Matlab and python experience is required.
Ultra-high Boron Contents in Serpentinites: Do we Observe a Shift in Raman and FTIR Spectrum?
Mentors: Steven Jaret and Céline Martin, PhD
Serpentinites are metasomatic rocks that form by hydration of the mantle (made of olivine and pyroxene) in a wide range of geological settings (seafloor, subduction zone, passive margin, back- and fore-arc). During the past decade, an increasing number of studies using boron (B) and B isotopes has been published, highlighting that serpentine minerals can host significant amounts of B, up to 1 wt.% (i.e., 1000 ppm). Interestingly, high (above 100 ppm) and ultra-high (above 500 ppm) B contents are observed in serpentinites from all tectonic settings. The reason(s) for such an enrichment are still unknown, as well as the mechanism of incorporation. Boron can likely either be included in the crystal structure or be present as an impurity in the interlayer space. The hypothesis of micronuggets of borate could also be considered.