National Science Foundation Award #OCE-2349136

Since 1990, The Shannon Point Marine Center has received funding from the National Science Foundation for the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program to support undergraduate students to conduct supervised research with a faculty advisor.

Each summer, eight selected students spent nine weeks at the Shannon Point Marine Center conducting original research with a faculty adviser. At the end of the session, students produce a written and an oral report based on the results of their work. Student research has included such diverse themes as productivity and nutrient cycling in marine environments, molecular ecology and invertebrate genomics, ecology and physiology of seagrasses, restoration ecology, ecotoxicology in marine fishes, and deep-sea larval ecology.

Funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation provides participant financial support including:

• A $6,300 stipend for the summer
• A $675 food allowance. Participants are responsible for purchasing and preparing their own food. There is a well-equipped kitchen facility for that purpose.
• Housing in the SPMC dormitory
• A travel allowance up to $875

2025 Program Participants, Research, and Advisors

• Kennedy Jones, Belhaven University, and Paige Lueck, Minnesota State University, Improving outplanting success in pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana): Effects of tube type and predation risk (Derek Smith and Nate Schwarck, advisors).
• Liz Long, Chatham University. Understanding the impact of macrobenthic invertebrates on ammonium fluxes in Bellingham Bay (David Shull, advisor)
• Anna McCready, Whitman College. Population genomics of an unusually high-density aggregation of endangered pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) (Jay Dimond, advisor)
• Maddy Reiss, Skagit Valley College. A blessing or a curse? How the reintroduction of Olympia oysters serves as a habitat for native and nonnative crab species (Sylvia Yang, advisor)
• Soraya Remaili, University of South Carolina. Explaining variability in oxygen isotope ratios in the Western North Atlantic using a proxy system model (Nina Whitney, advisor)
• Caroline Schlehuber, Colorado College. Cracking an underwater code: ethogram development for harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the Salish Sea (Cindy Elliser, advisor)
• Zach Utz, Middlebury College. A Methodology for the larviculture of surf smelt (Hypomesus retiosus) using the  kreisel aquarium​ (Morgan Eisenlord, advisor)

Apply for the Program

Summer 2026 Program Dates: June 16 - August 14

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or or permanent residents of the U.S. and must be enrolled in a 2- or 4- year institution of higher education. Students who have received a bachelor’s degree before the start date of the program are ineligible.

Continuing SPMC’s long-standing tradition, we strongly encourage applications from individuals who may not have had prior research opportunities. Applications are welcome from students at any stage of their undergraduate degree program. Questions can be addressed to spmc@wwu.edu.

Application portal will open December 15, 2025 with an application deadline of February 10, 2026.