Summer 2025 King Center Research Project "Identifying geochemical controls of greenhouse gas emissions in tropical peatlands"

The King Center on Global Development's Summer Undergraduate Full-Time Research Assistant Program offers opportunities for fieldwork and research experience to matriculated, Stanford, undergraduates interested in global poverty and development across all academic disciplines.

When Stanford University travel policies allow, selected students spend up to 12 weeks in a low- or middle-income country conducting full-time research for a King Center faculty affiliate. Each research assistant receives a stipend of approximately $8,000 that covers most associated costs including travel, lodging, and incidental expenses.  Financial aid of up to $1,500 is also awarded to students who qualify.

Students are welcome to apply to multiple opportunities but must apply to each faculty research project separately.  Students may only accept one project if they are offered multiple opportunities.

If you have problems submitting your application, please report issues through the SOLO platform with a screenshot that includes the URL and the full page.  Please email kingcenter_programs@stanford.edu to also let us know of your issue(s). 

RESEARCH PROJECT SUMMARY: Tropical peatlands are among the world’s most carbon-dense ecosystems due to the large stores of organic carbon in their waterlogged soils. Tropical peatlands are also a source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, particularly methane, and there are large uncertainties about how microbial greenhouse gas production varies across diverse tropical peatland ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, many peatlands have been deforested and drained for agriculture and forestry with significant impacts for greenhouse gas emissions. Large-scale efforts are underway to restore peatlands in Southeast Asia to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, but large uncertainties remain about the impacts of peatland restoration on greenhouse gas production. In intact, degraded, and restored tropical peatlands, geochemical factors like nutrients, organic matter quantity and quality, and redox likely exert a strong control on greenhouse gas production. However, there is a lack of studies linking belowground geochemistry and greenhouse gas emissions from tropical peatlands. 

This project aims to identify controls on greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands in Southeast Asia. We have collected porewater and gas samples from both intact and degraded peatlands under a variety of land uses in Indonesia and Malaysia at sites where our collaborators monitor greenhouse gas emissions. These samples will be prepared and analyzed at the Environmental Measurements Facility and the Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry Laboratory at Stanford. We are eager to welcome an undergraduate student interested in biogeochemistry and/or ecosystem sciences seeking to gain experience in laboratory analysis of environmental samples to our team. The student would get the opportunity to prepare and analyze samples for multiple analyses (e.g., greenhouse gas concentrations, stable isotope composition, dissolved organic carbon and nutrients) as well as gain experience using R for data analysis and data visualization. Pending fieldwork timing and other ongoing work in our research group, there may be opportunities to learn field sampling methods and/or participate in other laboratory activities (e.g., preparation and analysis of soil samples). Previous lab experience (via coursework or research opportunities) is required, and exposure to R or another programming language is helpful but not required.

Research mentor: Assistant Professor Alison Hoyt, Doerr - Earth System Science; co-mentor Clarice Perryman, postdoctoral researcher

Dates: A minimum of ten weeks during summer quarter 2025.

WHAT YOU WILL DO: 

• Preparation of environmental samples
• Analysis of water and gas samples (mix of independent work and working alongside research mentors)
• Data entry and quality control
• Data analysis and visualization