Summer 2023 Presentations
Special delivery! See our visiting baby camels (Dec. 6–19) and yaks (Dec. 20–Jan. 5) this holiday. Learn more
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Since 1995, the California Academy of Sciences' Summer Systematics Institute (SSI), with support from NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program and the Academy's Robert T. Wallace endowment, has addressed critical topics including; worldwide threats to biodiversity, the origins and diversification of life, phylogenetic systematics, and evolutionary biology.
SSI is a ten-week paid (nine weeks in person) research internship at our state-of-the-art research facility and museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. This world-renowned venue offers undergraduates important insights into the contributions that museum-based research can make to issues facing society today by providing them the opportunity to do museum-based research for the summer. The program accommodates up to 10 undergraduate students. This internship is made possible by the National Science Foundation and the Robert T. Wallace Endowment for Undergraduate Education.
Program Curriculum
Participants will conduct research with their chosen advisor on a project relating to the discipline of the advisor and student. The program begins with a week-long field trip to the University of California Point Reyes Field Station where students will participate in workshops on natural history field methods and science communication and participate in Snapshot Cal Coast.
Throughout the program, participants also take part in a museum-based curriculum that includes lectures and lab exercises on phylogenetics and systematics, molecular techniques, biodiversity, evolutionary biology, global change, and other contemporary issues in the natural sciences. Other activities include collections tours, popular writing, and science communication workshops, and time out on the museum floor directly communicating with the public.
The program culminates with a research symposium, where participants have an opportunity to communicate their summer research findings with the Academy community. Following their summer internship, participants are also invited (and encouraged) to attend a scientific meeting to present their findings in the form of a talk or poster.
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Duration & Location
The Summer Systematics Institute is a full-time program (40 hours/week) for ten weeks, nine of which are in person from May 27th - July 25th, 2025. The program's first in-person week will be spent at the University of California Point Reyes Field Station with the remainder of the time spent in San Francisco at the California Academy of Sciences.
Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate late arrivals to the program.
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How to Apply
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The application process is entirely online. You will need to complete this application.
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The online form will ask you to prepare a statement of interest in working at the Academy.
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Complete the advisor selection portion of the application form after reading the list of advisors and projects listed at the bottom of this page.
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You do not need to provide letters of recommendation. You will need to find two references and provide their contact information. At least one must be a science professor or academic professional (such as an instructor or teaching assistant) who knows your school work well enough to talk with us about you as a student if we contact them. Your other reference can be someone who knows you from working with you at any job, volunteer work, or community work. They just need to be able to talk about you as a person and as a learner. You should speak to these people before submitting their information to be sure they are willing to receive emails or phone calls and answer questions about you.
Deadline: January 31, 2025. The application system will not accept any applications after 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on January 31, 2025.
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Notification
Applicants will be notified by email sometime in late February or early March 2025. Due to the volume of applicants, we cannot give additional confirmation that we have received application materials received beyond the confirmation screen when the application is submitted.
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Eligibility
Any U.S. citizen or resident alien (green card) who is an undergraduate student, and who will not have graduated before the start of the fall semester or quarter of 2025, is welcome to apply. That is, you must be enrolled in an undergraduate program at the time of the internship.
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Housing & Stipend
A $6,500 ($650/week) stipend will be awarded to each intern. Travel to and from San Francisco will be provided. Housing will be provided in dormitories in San Francisco (within walking distance and easy public transportation to the Academy), with details to be provided upon the selection of interns. Personal stipends may be subject to federal and/or state income taxes.
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2025 Advisors
Click the + next to each advisor's name to learn more.
Dr. Rayna Bell and Dr. Kevin Mulder - Herpetology
Dr. Rayna Bell studies the ecology and evolution of amphibians and reptiles with an emphasis on island biogeography, hybrid zones and coloration phenotypes. Much of her work in based on a group of diverse and colorful frogs, the hyperoliid reed frogs, which are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and the Gulf of Guinea islands. More recently, Rayna has started studying the diversity and evolution of the frog visual system, a research direction that stems from her interests in understanding the ecology and evolution of coloration in frogs.
Additional information on Dr. Bell’s research can be found at: http://www.raynacbell.com
Dr. Kevin Mulder is a postdoctoral researcher broadly interested in studying the many different levels of amphibian biodiversity using evolutionary theory and genetic tools. He uses genomic and transcriptomic data to understand amphibian evolution and adaptation, and to help improve conservation efforts. His research has spanned a variety of amphibians, including fire salamanders, crested newts, leopard frogs, and spring salamanders, with a special focus on the dynamics between amphibian hosts and pathogens like Bd and Bsal. He is also interested in developing and applying new genomic tools and bioinformatic solutions, especially related to non-model species and large genomes.
2025 Project
Conservation genomics of Puerto Rican coqui frogs
Puerto Rico is home to 17 species of endemic coqui frogs, several of which are considered "threatened" or "endangered" and a few of which are already thought to be extinct. As part of a broader project to gain foundational knowledge that can inform ongoing management decisions, we are assessing the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of seven coqui species. The goal of this project will be to focus on one of the species to quantify its distinct patterns of genetic diversity across the island as an important step towards guiding the recovery and conservation of these iconic frogs. The intern will work with existing genomic datasets and gain experience with bioinformatics, and population genetic and phylogenetic analysis methods. The outcomes of this project will be communicated to our collaborators at the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Dr. Sarah Crews - Arachnology
Dr. Sarah Crews is a research scientist in the Arachnology Lab at the California Academy of Sciences. She conducts research primarily on two groups of spiders: Flattie spiders of the family Selenopidae and Marronoids (several families of mostly little brown spiders). Research topics include behavior, systematics, taxonomy, species description, phylogenetics, phylo- and biogeography, and morphometrics.
2025 Project
The Systematics of Lathys Spiders
During SSI 2025 we will focus on the marronoid group Lathyidae. These are mostly tiny, 6-eyed spiders that live in leaf litter and are distributed worldwide. We will collect morphological and molecular data and conduct phylogenetic analyses to learn more about the relationships within the family.
Dr. Terry Gosliner - Invertebrate Zoology, Nudibranchs
In his tenure at the Academy, Dr. Terry Gosliner has served as Provost and was responsible for coordinating the design and implementation of our programmatic transformation during the rebuilding of the Academy's facilities. He has also overseen the scientific research programs, as Dean of Science and Director of Research. His research focuses on the evolutionary history of nudibranchs (the colorful group also known as sea slugs), and he has published more than 250 scientific papers and five books. Dr. Gosliner utilizes integrative phylogenetic techniques to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of major groups of heterobranch snails and slugs. These phylogenies are used to study adaptive radiation, evolution of color patterns and implications to conservation biology. Fundamental studies of heterobranchs also focus on documenting biodiversity in the Coral Triangle of the western Pacific. Approximately 40-60% of the species have been collected from tropical regions are undescribed species and currently members of his lab are describing many of these species within systematic revisions. With the advent of molecular phylogenies integrated with morphological studies novel evolutionary relationships have been discovered and new understandings of evolutionary processes have been revealed. He has focused my research on the nudibranch fauna of the reefs of the Philippines, documenting the most diverse marine ecosystems of the world. He has worked to strengthen ties with Bay Area Filipino communities and to build strong partnerships with colleagues in the Philippines. A major aspect of his work is to build new tools to empower local communities to develop sustainable management and conservation of the rich reefs of the Philippines. Dr. Gosliner actively works to democratize science, foster inclusion and diversity, and promote community science.
2025 Project
My research focuses on the evolution and adaptive radiation of heterobranch mollusks, especially nudibranchs or sea slugs. I utilize phylogenetic techniques, both morphological and molecular to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of major groups of opisthobranchs. With these phylogenies he studies adaptive radiation, evolution of color patterns and implications to conservation biology. Most of my work focuses on the systematics of heterobranchs from the tropical Indo-Pacific waters and includes the documentation and description of many new species that we have discovered from the Philippines and other tropical and temperate regions of the world's oceans.
Dr. Maddy Hannappel - Arachnology
Dr. Maddy Hannappel is a postdoctoral researcher at CAS under an NSF Fellowship. Her research focuses on Long-Jawed Orbweaver Spiders (Tetragnatha sp.) and using spiders to monitor environmental contaminants, like mercury. Currently, Maddy is conducting a project rearing over 100 Tetragnatha spiders with the California Academy of Sciences aquarium to study their life history, biology, and behavior.
2025 Project
Can spiders be identified from their molts?
Can spiders be identified using DNA extracted from their molts? Spiders, similar to insects, shed their exoskeletons multiple times as they grow from egg to adult. It is not known if these molts can be used for DNA barcoding individual spiders. Using molts to determine spider species would be a valuable tool as many spiders can't be identified to species level while alive. We have already collected many spider molts from spiders reared in the California Academy of Sciences Aquarium including spiders in the genus Tetragnatha and Trichonephila. This project would assess if DNA can be extracted and sequenced from spider molts by testing multiple DNA extraction methods.
Dr. Avery Hill and Dr. Natalie Low - Center for Biodiversity and Community Science
ahill@calacademy.org and nlow@calacademy.org
Dr. Avery Hill is a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science, where they leverage vast amounts of community science data to model ecological patterns across myriad landscapes. Their research is most broadly motivated by the need to understand the biological and ethical drivers of Anthropocene biogeography.
Dr. Natalie Low is a Biodiversity Data Specialist in the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science. At the Academy, they integrate community science data with climate change projections to model changes in species ranges across the California Coast, and develop an “Early Warning and Forecasting System” for coastal managers and communities.
2025 Project
Crowdsourced biodiversity datasets generated by community scientists through the use of tools like iNaturalist are growing rapidly. The involvement of increasing numbers of community volunteers allows for biodiversity data to be collected at spatial and temporal scales difficult to achieve by other means.
In addition, the Academy is currently in the progress of rapidly digitizing our biodiversity collections, making large amounts of historical biodiversity data accessible.
These datasets are incredibly useful for understanding patterns in California biodiversity, how these patterns are changing, and ultimately how to steward ecosystems towards a thriving future.
The SSI intern for this project will use the R platform to develop data analyses and visualizations from digitized museum specimens and community science observations, in order to address biodiversity data needs/desires for different audiences, including: Academy researchers, land and coastal managers, and/or community members. The precise geographic or taxonomic focus will be co-developed with the intern.
Dr. Elora López-Nandam - Invertebrate Zoology
Dr. Elora Lopez-Nandam is an evolutionary biologist with research interests in the ecology, evolution, and conservation of marine ecosystems. Currently, she combines genomics with aquarium husbandry for important marine animals like corals and sea stars, in order to inform best practices for conservation breeding programs worldwide. This work is inherently collaborative and interdisciplinary, and key partners include Steinhart Aquarium here at CAS, as well as Roatán Marine Park in Honduras.
2025 Project
Aquarium-raised sea stars
In the 2010's, sea star wasting disease killed billions of sea stars across over 20 species on the coast of North America. Now, scientists and aquarium partners around the country, including at Cal Academy, are working to breed sea stars in aquaria, with the hope of one day reintroducing these keystone animals back into the ocean. This project will involve processing and analyzing data on juvenile sunflower and ochre sea stars raised at Steinhart Aquarium. The intern will use R and other tools to visualize data and draw conclusions about these sea stars raised in human care.
Dr. Edward Myers - Herpetology
Dr. Edward Myers is a research scientist at the California Academy of Sciences in the Department of Herpetology. His research focuses on addressing what generates and maintains biodiversity. To address this overarching question in evolutionary biology he draws from numerous fields, spanning from population genetics, phylogenomics, and comparative genomics. He is interested in the diversification of reptiles and amphibians globally, with a particular focus on the snakes of the Western Hemisphere.
2025 Project:
The forces that drive population genetic divergence and ultimately influence the process of speciation are numerous and include historical isolation of populations and local adaptation. These factors can be identified by analyzing genetic data collected across the geographic distribution of a species using population genetic and phylogenetic approaches. Baja California has a complex geological history and a range of climate gradients, both of which are expected to influence genetic diversity within species. This project will focus on identifying population structure and the factors that have influenced this structure in the Baja California Coachwhip (Masticophis fuliginosus) by generating sequence data from samples collected throughout the peninsula.
Dr. Michael Yuan - Herpetology
Dr. Michael Yuan is an evolutionary ecologist and herpetologist working with at the Academy as a postdoctoral researcher. His research is focused on understanding how environmental differences lead to the formation, maintenance, or loss of genetic and phenotypic diversity. He studies these processes at both ancient and contemporary timescales. His research primarily centers on Anolis, a diverse genus of >400 species of neotropical lizards, but also includes other amphibians and reptiles throughout the southeastern United States and the Caribbean. Recent projects include studying adaptation to climatic gradients in generalist species and how species respond to novel communities.
2025 Project
Phylogeography and population genetics of Lesser Antillean microgeckos in the genus Sphaerodactylus
Island archipelagos are hotspots of biodiversity as physical separation by water barriers can lead to genetic differentiation and speciation between islands. Understanding when and how island systems can act as sources of biodiversity requires asking how species become distributed across multiple islands, the degree to which islands are actually isolated, and the subsequent formation of genetic differentiation between island populations if any. The Lesser Antilles provides a compelling system to study these questions as they are a series of volcanic islands some of which have never been connected and others which have been separated by sea level rise. This project will investigate inter-island relationships across multiple species of Sphaerodactylus microgeckos endemic to the Lesser Antilles. The intern will be sequencing DNA and learning population genetic and phylogenetic methods.
Summer 2023 Interview Series
Questions?
If you have questions regarding our undergraduate internships, please email us. No phone calls, please.
Acknowledgements
These internships are made possible by the National Science Foundation and a generous gift from the Robert T. Wallace Endowment for undergraduate research experiences.