Undergraduate student researchers and volunteers contribute significantly to research conducted in the Department of Natural History. Each year, several hundred undergraduate students work on projects, including fieldwork, laboratory experiments, curatorial activities in the museum collections, and exhibit development.
These opportunities allow students to gain experience working with research collections and analyzing and interpreting data alongside a team of professional scholars. In being part of the discovery process, students are encouraged to ask questions and develop research projects to suit their own interests and build a foundation for potential future investigations after graduation.
Ways to Get Involved
Each division at the Florida Museum is happy to welcome any volunteers to assist with their collections. Students interested in volunteering should start by reviewing the Undergraduate Opportunities (see below), which may include assisting with research projects or curatorial activities in the museum’s collections, exhibit and fieldwork. This list provides a variety of potential projects. After exploring these opportunities, students should contact the potential project advisor. This list is not exhaustive, so students are also encouraged to consult other museum faculty and staff in their area of focus.
For additional volunteer opportunities within the museum, visit the Adult Volunteer Opportunities. Students can also join the Environmental Leaders Network, which offers opportunities in environmental research and engagement both on campus and in the community.
Undergraduate Opportunities
- AI for Bio/Cultural Diversity – Computer Vision
Project mentor: Nicolas Gauthier, Ashley Rutkoski – nicolas.gauthier@ufl.edu
Lab/Collection: AI for Bio/Cultural Diversity
Project Description: This internship offers students an introduction to artificial intelligence applications in archaeology, specifically focusing on computer vision techniques. Students will learn the complete workflow of developing a computer vision model through hands-on experience with archaeological materials. Students will capture high-quality digital images of archaeological materials, learn image processing procedures, gain experience annotating images, and develop a basic understanding of model training and evaluation. This opportunity is specifically designed for students interested in learning how new technologies can enhance archaeological research.
Skills needed: Completion of an introductory course in archaeology is required. Attention to detail and the ability to work independently are essential. Prior experience working in python or R would be highly desired, if not strictly required.
Skills to be gained: Students will learn basic principles of collecting data for computer AI applications and introduction to common software tools used in computer vision research.
Semester: Fall - Ceramic Technology
Project Mentor: Andrea Torvinen, Ashley Rutkoski, Neill Wallis
Lab/Collection: Ceramic Technology Lab – a.torvinen@floridamuseum.ufl.edu
Project Description: Archaeological Pottery Analysis Internship: Students will gain hands-on experience with pottery analysis, specifically learning to inventory and record vessel information from sherds found at sites located along the Northern Gulf Coast. Students will be tasked with a variety of responsibilities, including recording metric attributes of pottery sherds, drawing vessel profiles, managing data in Excel, photographing artifacts, and editing images for an online reference collection. This internship is designed to introduce students to basic ceramic analyses and show how this information can be used to inform our understanding of past communities.
Skills Needed: Completion of an introductory course in archaeology is required. Attention to detail and the ability to work independently are essential. Previous experience with photography or Excel are a huge plus but not required.
Skills to be Gained: Students will gain hands-on experience working in Excel, collecting measurements with calipers, drawing artifacts, taking photos with Nikon SLR camera, and using Gimp photo editing software. Overall, they will develop basic data management, analysis, and digital documentation skills that can be applied to other areas of interest.
Semester: Fall - Invertebrate Zoology
Project Mentor: John Slapcinsky – slapcin@flmnh.ufl.edu
Lab/Collection: Invertebrate Zoology
Project Description: Land snails and other non-marine mollusks have the highest extinction rates among animal groups, yet their diversity remains understudied. This project will involve gathering and digitizing morphological data from museum collections of land snails for comparative analysis. The collected digital data will be crucial for describing new species and enhancing our understanding of invertebrate diversity. This resource will also support future research in evolutionary biology, morphology, and conservation.
Skills Needed: Interest in invertebrate diversity, museum collections, dissection, and photography.
Skills to be Gained: Hands-on experience in curating museum collections, gathering morphological data through measurements, photography, and dissection, as well as insight into scientific documentation and species analyses.
Semester: Spring, Summer, Fall - Lepidoptera – CT Scanning
Project Mentor: Edward Stanley, Akito Kawahara, Ana Isabel Lopez Cacacho – elstanley@flmnh.ufl.edu
Lab/Collection: McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity
Project Description: This project aims to develop a CT-scan methodology to detect alkaloids in collection specimens. We will use the Bella moth as a model organism, given that it metabolizes, sequesters and utilizes Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids from it food plants. This approach will contribute to the identification of the specific organs and tissues where alkaloids are being sequestered without dissection, simplifying the process and reducing the need for specialized expertise. This new non-invasive methodology will contribute to new discoveries in alkaloid research across diverse species in museum collections.
Skills Needed: Previous knowledge of general biology and entomology
Skills to be Gained: Understanding of the general principles of CT-scanning, knowledge of CT-scanning data acquisition and reconstruction, Lepidoptera anatomy and plant-moth interaction knowledge, critical thinking, and attention to detail
Semester: Spring, Fall, Summer - Paleobotany – Plant/insect interaction
Project Mentor: Hongshan Wang – hwang@flmnh.ufl.edu
Lab/Collection: Paleobotany
Project Description: The Eocene Claiborne Group (50–38 million years before present) from southeast Unites States yields abundant well-preserved fossil plants. Many research papers have been generated based on these fossils to investigate paleoclimate, paleo-phytogeography, diversity and evolution of various plant groups, the diversity, paleo phytogeography. These plant fossils, especially those compressed leaves, also record past plant-animal interactions through insect-damaged leaves. Studying these insect-damaged leaves can help us understand past plant-insect interactions, herbivore richness in the paleoecosystems, paleoclimate changes, and paleoclimate changes. However, no research papers studying these insect-damages leaves have been published. In the project, students will work on a selected locality to sort the fossil leaves into different morphotypes based on their morphology, describe these leaves using a guide (e.g., Manual of Leaf Architecture by Ellis et al.), describe insect damage types (DTs) using the guide developed by a group of paleobotanists/paleoentomologists from the National Museum of Natural History, and photograph these fossils. The result will be a paper documenting the diversity of plant fossils, insect damage types, and their relationships in a scientific journal.
Skills Needed: Experience working with digital camera, experience using Photoshop, and background in botany/zoology are helpful, but not required.
Skills to be Gained: Hands-on experience in curatorial activities museum collections. Learning about morphology, taxonomy, and systematics of fossil plants. Writing skills as a co-author on a manuscript. Presentation skills on scientific research.
Semester: Spring/Fall - South Florida Archaeology
Project Mentor: Jen Green – jgreen@floridamuseum.ufl.edu
Lab/Collection: South Florida Archaeology
Project Description:Students will assist with assessing archaeological museum collections to meet NAGPRA compliance deadlines for sites located in southern Florida. Tasks will include inventorying and recording artifact collections and digitizing site documents to create site summaries for federal compliance efforts.
Skills Needed: No previous experience is necessary, but the work requires respectful handling of Native American objects of cultural patrimony and various museum documents. An ideal candidate will have attention to detail and ability to follow directions. Interest in working with archaeological collections desired, but not required.
Skills to be Gained: Hands-on experience working with museum archaeological collections and associated documentation, experience in identifying and describing archaeological artifacts/Indigenous cultural materials, and experience in repatriation efforts.
Semester: Spring
Any student interested in an independent study project for university credit through a division of the Florida Museum should contact the museum’s collections curators or faculty about research opportunities in their field.
Independent studies can often be arranged in a number of disciplines using collection specimens. Once you have established a project with a curator as your advisor, you will need to contact your home department (i.e., Biology, Geology, Anthropology) for the appropriate independent studies course forms and application materials. You will work under the supervision of the collection curators and/or collection managers and graduate students and will communicate with your Florida Museum advisor during the course of your independent research.
Most independent research projects last for one semester, but some can last longer if the student desires and the advisor/department approve. This is a great way to get experience, earn credit, and interact with museum researchers. Results of such studies can be readily presented at professional conferences and even adapted for publication.
Note: UF offers a training module, Mentee 101, on how to be a successful undergraduate researcher
For those seeking paid internship opportunities, the museum has application calls for the Florida Museum Undergraduate Internship Program twice a year. Additionally, students interested in environmental leadership and sustainability can apply to the TESI Environmental Leadership Fellowship or explore other TESI programs for undergraduates.
Students eligible for Federal Work Study (FWS) can gain hands-on experience in research or curatorial work at the Florida Museum while earning financial support. Through FWS, students can contribute to museum research, collections management, and exhibit development.
For more information, visit the UF Student Financial Affairs website for details on FWS employment, including where to find available FWS positions at the museum.
Funding your Research Experience
Once students identify a specific area of research, they may also consider applying to one of the two competitive UF programs, which provide stipends to fund their museum research experience.
The Emerging Scholars Program provides a stipend to undergraduate students involved in research projects with UF mentors. It is open to students in their freshman or sophomore year, with no prior formal research experience. Applications for the next round of funding are due November 22nd, 2025, and research will take place in the following Spring and Summer or Fall semesters. Students should submit their applications directly to the Center for Undergraduate Research as described at the above link. If there are more applications than the Florida Museum of Natural History is able to support, the museum will select the most meritorious
The University Scholars Program (USP) provides a stipend to more advanced undergraduate students involved in research projects with UF faculty mentors. Research will take place during Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, and students cannot be graduating before May 2026. See the above link for more details.
The Florida Museum of Natural History expects to submit up to five applications from students working with museum mentors. The museum will review applications and submit the most competitive for consideration by the USP. Please submit applications by February 14th, 2025, so the museum will have time to review them before the USP deadline of March 1.
Students should submit a single PDF file including the following:
1. The 2025-2026 USP application form, available here.
2. A one-page research summary.
3. Letter of support from FLMNH mentor, stating that the mentor will agree to supervise this project and providing any other information to support the student’s application.
If you have additional questions about undergraduate research opportunities or museum-related projects for undergraduates, please contact the Undergraduate Affairs Coordinator, Dr. Mariela Pajuelo (mpajuelo@ufl.edu).