2025 Internship Project Overview

Shrubification refers to the ongoing phenomenon of shrub expansion across the Arctic as the climate warms. But, it’s unclear what is driving this shrub response. This past summer, we traveled to Toolik Field Station in remote northern Alaska to research several of the hypotheses behind this phenomenon. These include warmer temperatures, increased nutrient levels and longer growing seasons. Our experiment revolved around manipulating these variables across more than 120 plots through methods such as placing warming chambers on top of the tundra, adding nitrogen and prematurely shoveling snow from certain plots. Throughout the summer, we studied how these variables affected our study shrubs by monitoring phenology (how our shrubs changed throughout the growing season), conducting plant community surveys and measuring stem growth and leaf counts for all of our tagged shrubs, among other tasks. We also coded, getting a firsthand glimpse of the data we collected in real time. Along the way, we learned from and collaborated with an incredible team of scientists.

 

ORGANIZATION/RESEARCH GROUP

Levine Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

LOCATION

Toolik Field Station, Alaska

 

Interns

Hannah Floyd ’27
Major: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Minor(s): Spanish Language and Culture
"Being able to do a close-up study of plants in the remote Alaskan Arctic is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. I now have a much stronger understanding of what it means to do environmental research. As an aspiring biologist, I am excited to apply what I learned this summer to my future education and career."
Erik Luijendijk ’27
Major: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Minor(s): Computer Science
"This internship was amazing. It was unreal to spend my summer at a remote field station. I learned so much about scientific academic research during all stages; from setting up the experiment to doing data analysis. I was able to experience field station operations firsthand, along with seeing the infrastructure in place for being able to withstand -40 C."

Click to view the end-of-project presentation

 

Jonathan Levine
J.N. Allison Professor in Environmental Studies, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Mentors

  • Ruby An, Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology