Undergraduate Research and Extension Experiences (REEU) Summer Research Program

• Are you interested in the fields of Plant and Soil Science, Food Systems, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Sustainability or Global Change? 
• Do you have little to no prior research experience?
• Are you thinking of pursuing graduate school or a professional career in STEM, and want to know more about what your options are?
• Are you interested in learning about data analysis, sampling methods, and how to conduct field and lab work?
• Are you from a university, college or community college with limited research opportunities?
• Are you interested in becoming part of a close-knit community of diverse researchers and building your academic network?

If you answered YES! to any of these questions, the SOAR-REEU experience is probably right for you!

Our program is designed to give you an introduction to developing and executing a research project as an undergraduate student. No prior field work experience, lab experience, or stats courses are required to apply. 

Our program goal is to help you understand what “doing research” really means, and to help give you the knowledge, resources, and support to achieve your STEM career goals (and maybe even help you identify what those goals might be!). 

We are excited to see your application!

SOAR_REEU Program - Expectations and Weekly Timeline

SOAR-REEU UMN Code of Conduct

If you need an accommodation of any kind that is not supported in what we have provided, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Dates:

This program is 10 weeks long and will run from June 2 – August 8, 2025. Students are expected to arrive on-site by 5 p.m. Sunday, June 1st and depart Saturday, August 9th.

Hours:

This is a full-time (40+hrs/week) research experience.  Specific hours will be arranged with your research mentor. No additional employment is permitted as we want students to be fully present and engaged with their SOAR-REEU experience.

Financial Support:

• $5000 stipend + room & board at The University of Minnesota Pioneer Hall. Lunch is provided in the dining hall and will be brought to the St. Paul Campus in a to-go container daily. 
• Dorms are double-occupancy and come equipped with microwaves and mini refrigerators.
• Up to $500 to cover transportation to and from Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport (MSP). If you will have a car on campus, parking is available at an additional cost. If you feel you have an extenuating travel circumstance (such as travel from Puerto Rico), we will work with you to find reasonable flight accomodations.
• Housing, meals, and Boynton Health extended (supplemental) coverage provided.
• All students must carry private health insurance coverage, or will be required to purchase the U of M Student Health Benefit Plan 
   

Learning Plan and Professional Development:

REEUs will work with their mentor to create a custom learning plan and work to develop an independent research project, collaborate on writing research objectives, attend weekly professional development seminars, develop your personal statement about your research, write a research abstract and present a professional research poster at the UMN Summer Undergraduate Research Expo, plus write a blog post about your research experience.

Our weekly professional development seminars cover topics like science communication and personal statements, developing a research poster, crafting a CV/Resume, and more. We also host grad panels and career panels to help students learn about a variety of STEM career options.

Field Trips and Activities:

Each week students will participate in a field trip or related food system experiences, including visits to incubator farms to support farmers who have faced barriers to entry to agriculture, urban farms, food hubs and a research field day, resulting in enhanced learning about food system sustainability! SOAR students will also have the opportunity to participate in additional field trips with other summer research programs, including amusement parks, theater performances, and a grand finale riverboat tour down the mighty Mississippi! The Twin Cities region of Minneapolis-Saint Paul is a vibrant hub of activity to suit all interests and we look forward to sharing it with you!

Rogers Lab: The Rogers lab specializes in addressing production challenges in fruit and vegetable crops, combining plant science and entomology expertise. Our current research is centered on managing invasive insect species and tailoring horticultural production techniques for small-scale and urban agricultural systems. Students should expect to spend approximately 75% of the day doing research tasks in the field and 25% of time doing lab work.

PI: Dr. Mary Rogers - roge0168@umn.edu

Shannon Lab: The Shannon lab focuses on potato genetics genomics and breeding. Members of our lab work on projects ranging from understanding the ways in which polyploidy and domestication shape genomes to using drone images to breed potatoes which require less nitrogen. Most members of our lab have field/greenhouse and computational aspects of their projects.

PI: Dr. Laura Shannon - lmshannon@umn.edu

McCaghey Lab: Research in the McCaghey Lab centers on understanding the ecology and epidemiology of soil-associated fungi and oomycetes to improve crop disease management. Potential REEU projects would investigate the relationship between cover crops and soilborne pathogen survival or help to identify novel biological control agents to protect canola from Sclerotinia stem rot. Research projects would include a mixture of field and laboratory activities including soil and plant sampling, culture work, and molecular methods in microbial identification.

PI: Dr. Megan McCaghey - mmccaghe@umn.edu

Grossman Lab: The Grossman lab explores how to improve plant-soil-microbe relationships on agroecological and organic vegetable farms, to develop sustainable food production systems. A central thread that connects much of our work is the examination of legume cover crops and associated soil microbes to help maintain landscape diversity and tighten nutrient cycling. Current projects investigate the use of cover crop legumes to enhance organic hoop house (high tunnel) soil sustainability and creation of a soil management plan with immigrant farmer advocacy organizations in the Twin Cities. Prospective REEU students should have an interest in soil ecology and farming systems.

PI: Dr. Julie Grossman - jgross@umn.edu

Kimball Lab: The Kimball lab engages with a broad range of stakeholders who focus on Zizania palustris aka wild rice as a cultivated crop and as a threatened species. Members of our lab work on breeding methods, genomics, plant pathology, and conservation strategies. Experiential learning encompasses computational, lab, greenhouse, and field work.

PI: Dr. Jenny Kimball - jkimball@umn.edu

Miller Lab: The Miller lab actively supports the nursery and landscape industries through the identification, development, and production of specialty perennial horticultural crops adapted to cultivation in northern climates. Our research revolves around characterizing and assessing underutilized species that demonstrate resilience to landscape stresses as well as propagation and production research that helps overcome obstacles in the plant production pipeline. Students will gain hands on experience with a variety of research projects in the field and greenhouse as well as routine opportunities to practice horticulture in the Learning Garden for Horticultural Science, a small public garden on the St. Paul campus. Activities include planting, watering, weeding, pruning, and overall management of horticultural landscapes. Students will be expected to work with a team of horticulturists outdoors or in a greenhouse with some lab opportunities.

PI: Dr. Brandon Miller - bmmiller@umn.edu

Teh Lab: The Teh lab focuses on cold climate grape breeding of wine and table grapes. Potential projects include disease evaluation and identification of disease resistance associated with two fungal pathogens. Ongoing table grape projects are centered on assessing the impacts of training systems and management practices on vine vigor and fruit quality. There is likely an opportunity to develop a market survey for grape tastings at the Minnesota State Fair. Students will gain hands-on experience of the breeding program (vineyard and greenhouse).

PI: Dr. Soon Li Teh - teh@umn.edu

Cates and Gutknecht Labs: The Cates lab studies soil health in cropping systems, focusing on organic matter pools and soil structure. The Gutknecht lab focuses on soil ecology in managed and natural ecosystems, focusing on ecosystem processes through a soil microbial lens. A student project will likely focus on erosion and water quality in different cropping systems, with opportunity to participate in field and lab work.

PI: Dr. Anna Cates and Dr. Jessica Gutknecht - jgut@umn.edu

Clark Lab: The Clark lab studies fruit breeding with a focus on apples, blueberries, and a few other crops like Rubus and kiwiberry. We are interested in studying ploidy, or the copy number of chromosomes in some of these species as this can be a barrier to breeding between 2x (diploid) and 4x (tetraploid). Techniques may include flow cytometry and root tip squashes. Daily work may include watering and caring for greenhouse plants, assistance in pollinations, and other propagation.

PI: Dr. Matthew Clark - clark776@umn.edu