Ferguson College of Agriculture

Anyone over the age of 18 and enrolled as a full-time student in a school of higher education, including two-year and four-year institutions, for the Fall Semester 2027.

The OSU Forestry REEU program is an experience that will enhance your education through active participation in research and Extension, positively impacting forests and the communities that depend on them. You will gain valuable knowledge and skills through a project, field trips and workshops, for a career in Forestry or a related field. Research and Extension projects will focus on forest management, forest ecology and/or digital forestry. If you are interested in a career in Forestry or any related field, we encourage you to apply. For more information about the program or related careers, please email the Program Director, Bryan Murray, at bryan.murray@okstate.edu.

Students will either live on the OSU Stillwater campus in a residence hall or at the Kiamichi Forestry Research Center in Idabel, Oklahoma, depending on the location of their research or Extension project. Each student will have a private bedroom and shared living space (two students per unit). Students who choose not to use the program-sponsored housing will be required to obtain and pay for their own housing. A partial housing stipend may be available for these situations.

• Start date: May 24, 2027
• End date: July 30, 2027

Each student will receive a stipend of $720 per week for 10 weeks. Stipends are considered part of a student’s estimated financial assistance. For questions related to how stipend payments affect financial aid, please contact your Financial Aid and Scholarships Office. 

OSU students may receive up to three credits of NREM 4960 Undergraduate Internship. Talk with your Academic Advisor and Faculty Mentor for more information. For students enrolled at other institutions or academic departments, please talk with your advisors at your home institution or department if you are interested in applying program participation towards course credit. This program will not cover expenses associated with tuition and fees. 

You will be assigned to one of eight research or Extension mentors. Mentors will include Drs. Ryan DeSantis, Aalap Dixit, Omkar Joshi, Casey Meek, Bryan Murray, Jia Yang, Lu Zhai and Chris Zou. This group of mentors includes a wide range of expertise, ranging from applied forest management to digital forestry. 

Research and Extension project topics will include the following. You will be able to rank your project preference on the application.

• Effects of fire and mechanical treatments on woody species composition in xeric upland oak forests.
• Silvopasture system establishment on reclaimed lands using mechanical mulching in combination with herbicide application.
• Understanding the fire regimes in Oklahoma forests and their impacts
• Determining the fire effect on biomass of forest encroached by eastern redcedar
• Developing hybrid sweetgum suitability maps in the south-central USA
• Adaptation of ponderosa pine to increasing aridity
• Application of prescribed fire to improve water quality

Every other week during the ten-week program, students will participate in field trips to gain knowledge and experience of:

• Forest ecology and management of eastern Oklahoma and the Cross Timbers forest
• Tribal lands forestry and natural resource management
• Industrial forestry
• Youth Extension
• Watershed hydrology
• Prescribed fire
• Wildfire risk modeling

Workshops will take place weekly and will provide students with training in research methods, communication and professional development. Workshop topics will include:

• Proposal development
• Youth Extension and Project Learning Tree (PLT)
• Research methods in forestry and natural resources
• Data management techniques and best practices
• Applying to graduate school
• Applying to industry jobs
• Communication skills: writing
• Communication skills: presenting
• Managing your online presence: professional networking

As an REEU student fellow, you will be expected to work a 40-hour work week, become an active and productive member of your mentor’s lab group, attend all program events, make consistent progress on your project each week, present the results of your research or Extension project at the Undergraduate Summer Research Expo at OSU, demonstrate positive attitude and active participation and conduct yourself like a professional throughout the program. This REEU program represents a unique opportunity to become actively involved in your education. You are encouraged to take initiative to participate, ask questions and expand your professional experience and network.

A typical week will include conducting independent research under the guidance of your mentor and their lab group, as well as participating in regularly scheduled field trips and workshops. Your specific research and Extension activities will largely depend on your specific project, but could range from field data collection to working in a greenhouse to data analysis in a computer lab.