CHMBE: Coastal-Heartland Marine Biology Exchange

The Coastal-Heartland Marine Biology Exchange (CHMBE) was an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates that Dan co-directed with Tom Bell (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) and Max Castorani (University of Virginia) and Kyle Emery (UC Santa Barbara). Each summer, 2–4 undergraduates spent ten weeks working across two institutions and one major scientific meeting (the Ecological Society of America meeting). It was a fun program. Maybe ina future year we will re-implement it.

Program structure

Each cohort moved through three phases:

  1. Five weeks of hands-on marine biology. Students got direct exposure to marine systems and how marine data are collected.
  2. Four weeks at KU. Students learned data-analytic approaches and applied them to data from marine systems, carrying out an independent research project with support from program staff.
  3. One week at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Student got broad exposure to the field and presented aspects of their work.

Past cohorts

Two students participated in summer 2023; four in summer 2024. The 2024 CHMBE alumni appear on the People page.

Partner institutions