Opportunities, experiences, and advice
The University of Toronto is known as the best research university in Canada, and for very good reasons. There is a diverse range of opportunities available for various disciplines, but certain departments have unique options for students interested in pursuing research. One of these options is field research, which is common in departments such as Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB), Earth Sciences, and Forestry. I had the privilege of being accepted into a Research Excursions Program (REP) with the EEB Department over the summer, where I contributed to a long-term project investigating the effects of climate change on the diversity of plants, as well as completing a personal project relating to herbivory.
REPs are similar to the Research Opportunity Program where you work with a professor on a predetermined research project and it counts for a course credit. However, REPs are unique because they take place off-campus. This summer, the REP destinations ranged from the Koffler Scientific Reserve (KSR) located just outside Newmarket, all the way to Puerto Rico. If you’re interested in hands-on experience and looking for something different from your typical lab, REPs present a wonderful opportunity. Ellie Hector, third year Biodiversity and Conservation Biology student at Victoria College, cited this as the reason she was interested in field work: “I understand what lab work entails, but I have never gotten a chance to do field research before.”
REPs are just one of many fantastic ways to get involved with field work at UofT. The university also offers a variety of rarely advertised scholarships and internships that allow students to work over the summer in a field of their choice. Some examples of this include the KSR Undergraduate Student Research Award, and the Centre for Global Change Science (CGCS) Summer Undergraduate Intern Programme. Katie Monat—who is going into her fourth year in Biodiversity and Environmental Geography—reviewed a host of available research grants and came across the KSR Undergraduate Student Research Award; she decided that it “would be a good fit for the type of research [she] wanted to do.” Nikki Regimbal is a recent graduate from UofT’s Ecology & Evolutionary Biology program (EEB) and she was able to complete field research this summer by getting a position through her supervisor who wanted her to have more in-person field experience. She’s starting a PhD in January.
Silas Peters—who is pursuing a specialist in EEB—had previously volunteered with Professor Arthur Weis and got their REP position by asking if he had any opportunities for them to continue their research. They’re glad they got the opportunity because it confirmed for them that they were in the correct program and they liked being able to experience both working in the field and in the lab. They highly recommend cold emailing professors and talking with them about their research as a way to build connections—a sentiment that Katie Monat also shares, recommending that students ask lots of questions and get in contact with the people already doing research.
Field work can also be an incredible chance to explore concepts outside of your chosen major. Han Le, who is going into her fourth year in Genome Biology and Animal Physiology, was accepted into an REP concerning plant diversity despite not having previous experience with the subject. She said this project exposed her to all the different work that occurs within the EEB field. She recommends that students “explore outside of [their] comfort zone, career and interest-wise, or else [they’ll] miss out.” Nikki Regimbal and Ellie Hector echoed this sentiment, saying “diversify your opportunities and explore your interests during undergrad, you might discover some unexpected passions” and “don’t be afraid to try a type […] or area of research you don’t know if you’ll be interested in” respectively.
I chatted with Professor Benjamin Gilbert, who is an associate professor within the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Gilbert has been teaching a field course at KSR for the past five years. He also has a long-term project at the reserve that has been running for ten years. One of the major reasons he has continued to teach the course for so many years is the students themselves. “Seeing the excitement of the students who are up there was great […] it’s one of those courses where often every single student is super excited to be up, they’re really trying hard to understand.” He added that he gets inspired by the students just as much as he inspires them.
Gilbert suggested looking into workshops held by the undergraduate EEB office that give an overview of what opportunities are being offered, which can include structured research projects and paying jobs. He also recommended looking into different professors whose work sounds intriguing—whether you took a class with them or their research topics sound interesting—and reaching out to them. He adds that you should not be discouraged if you do not hear back right away, because they might simply not be available at that time.
I also had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Professor Megan Bontrager. She is an assistant professor who has recently completed her postdoc and taught the Summer 2022 field course at KSR along with Dr. Weis. She explained that the “selfish reason” she wanted this position was so she could get to know the local flora and explore the area, but her less selfish reason was that she loved doing field courses as an undergrad. She said that she’s excited to replicate that experience for other people, and that “if I could do even 25 percent of the job that my teachers did, then I think I’ll be happy.” She recommends that students not be intimidated when applying for field positions. “Any observation of the natural world is a first step towards field biology […] just start looking around at nature and noticing things.”
To close off, I asked the student researchers to share a fun fact about their research:
Katie: Dragonflies have almost 360-degree vision.
Silas: Goldenrod gall flies do not eat at all during their 2 week span as mature flies.
Han: Plant litter is a good hiding spot for brown burrowing frogs.
Nikki: Backswimmers experience their entire life cycle in aquatic habitats but can disperse between patches of habitat via flight.
