Emily Minor

Email Address: eminor@uic.edu
College: Liberal Arts and Sciences Department: Biological Sciences
Title: Associate Professor
Office: 3346 SES
Webpage: minorlab.weebly.com
Participating in the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards program: Yes

Research Interest:
Our lab studies ecological systems and landscapes that have been altered by humans. We study how plants, birds, insects, and humans interact in these landscapes. We are currently looking for undergraduate students to help with two different projects: (1) Research done as part of the ReFuGE project (https://www.niu.edu/biology/about/faculty/barber/ReFuGE/Home.html) at the Nachusa Grasslands restored prairie site. As part of this project, we collect insects and measure their functional traits. Our goal is to determine the effects of various restoration management techniques employed by land managers at the site. (2) Research looking at how native and non-native plants affect spider communities in residential yards and gardens. As part of this project, we collected spiders and recorded percentages of native/non-native plants in Oak Park, IL.

Minimum time commitment in hours per week: 10-20

Qualifications of a Student:
No particular skills or experience are required, but students should have the following characteristics: a careful attention to detail, curiosity, self-motivation, moderate independence, and (especially) reliability. Familiarity with MS Excel would be useful but is not required. All majors are welcomed.

Brief Summary of what is expected from the student:
All field data have already been collected for both projects, so the students will work in the lab to sort and identify species of interest from the insect and spider samples. Additionally (and optionally), there is opportunity for the student to identify a group of arthropods not already examined as part of the study and investigate their own research questions using the samples already collected. Students might be able to learn skills in data organization and statistical analysis.

Contact researcher via URE Email Webform

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