The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) selected Jessica Garcia to present her research at their October Conference of Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student Scholarship. Garcia was one of 11 students in the University of Michigan Biological Station's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program this past summer.

Garcia, currently a junior at Humboldt State University in California, worked with UMBS mentor Brian Scholtens for her REU.  She says the experience changed her perspective on graduate school. "I was considering just going straight into a PhD program after I graduate with my BS, but after the graduate workshop we did at UMBS, I'm fairly certain that I will pursue my master's degree first and then my PhD."  

Regardless of the degrees she earns, Garcia says field work will remain a part of her.  "I'm a hands-on type of gal.  I don't think I will ever want to stop doing research."  Her REU project is titled, "Nitrogen Flux from Lake Michigan into Terrestrial Dune Ecosystems at Sturgeon Bay." It is this research she will present in Virginia at the CUR Conference.