Join us! Check out the opportunities listed below and please contact Dr. Muñoz with questions!
Muñoz Lab, Yale University - REU Internship - Summer 2026
This paid research internship is supported by an award from the U.S. National Science Foundation to Yale University as part of a the Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. The goal of the REU program is to support the scientific growth of STEM undergraduate students through guided training and independent research opportunities. Our research project involves studying the thermal ecology of Caribbean anole lizards to better understand how thermoregulatory behavior influences physiological evolution and diversification in the tropics. The project focuses on the behavioral diversity of Caribbean anole lizards, a model system for the study of adaptive radiation. Key to this project is that anole lizards vary in their thermoregulatory strategies. Whereas some anole species thermoregulate other species thermoconform: the goal of this project is to discover how behavioral patterns influence the evolution of physiological diversity across environmental gradients. The REU program is designed to help students enhance their scientific toolkit through specialized training, targeted readings, and support for independent research. The undergraduate students will receive training on how to measure thermoregulatory behavior, ecophysiology, evolution, and reptile biology. The project combines field work with laboratory assays and data analysis. The internship will begin with orientation to the research, methods training, and support for independent project development. Students will then participate in a lab-led field expedition in the Dominican Republic to assist with lizard captures and behavioral measurements, such as activity patterns and field body temperatures. In the field laboratory, we will provide training in the estimation of thermal preferences and thermal tolerances of lizards. In our lab at Yale, students will then gain experience in lizard husbandry, experimental approaches to studying thermal adaptation, and data analysis using R. Students will receive $6,000 in stipend for the 8-week program. In addition, all costs associated with field work, including travel, meals, and lodging are fully covered. Funds are also available for students to present their independent research project at annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Support covers travel, lodging, food, and registration for the scientific meeting. All prospective interns will need to fill out an application form (link here). Please note that the application form requires a resume/CV, and the name of one person who can supply a letter of recommendation on the applicant’s behalf. We will review applications on a rolling basis until April 20th, 2026, or until the position is filled. Please contact Dr. Martha Muñoz ([email protected]) or Dr. Saúl F. Domínguez-Guerrero ([email protected]) for more information.
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