The first step toward undertaking a UROP project is to identify a faculty member you would like to work with and develop a proposal. Most faculty welcome the opportunity to supervise and collaborate with students on UROP projects.

Professors in CFANS who have sponsored past UROP student projects or have specifically indicated a desire to collaborate with students on UROP projects include:

Applied Economics

Dr. Frances Homans, Department of Applied Economics
612-625-6220, fhomans@umn.edu
Interests:  Regulation of renewable natural resources, both in commercial and recreational settings. 

Food, Animal and Nutritional Sciences

Dr. Brian Crooker, Department of Animal Science
612-625-3185, crook001@umn.edu
Interests: Nutritional physiology and lactation in dairy cattle

 Dr. Francisco Diez Gonzalez, Department of Food Science and Nutrition
(612) 624-9756, fdiez@umn.edu
Interests:  Food safety microbiology, foodborne pathogens, safety of fresh fruits and vegetables, pre-harvest control of pathogenic E. coli, bioterroism agent, safety of organic foods 

Dr. Doug Foster, Department of Animal Science
612-624-4277, foste001@umn.edu
Interests:  Immortalization of avian cells for vaccine substrates, molecular mechanisms of cellular senescence and immortalization, regulation of cell cycle events, cloning of growth specific sequences, avian endocrinology, recombinant protein production.

Dr. Craig Hassel, Department of Food Science and Nutrition
612-624-7288, chassel@umn.edu
Interests:  Diversity in food and health epistemology, cross-cultural engagement

 Dr. Ted LaBouza, Department of Food Science and Nutrition
(612) 624-9701, tplabuza@umn.edu
Interests:  Water activity, food stability, food safety, food law, shelf life testing and dating, bioterrorism, contaminants in food, time-temperature integrator tags 

Dr. Laura Mauro, Department of Animal Science
612-624-6274, mauro002@umn.edu
Interests:  Cellular biology, animal physiology 

Dr. Len Marquart, Department of Food Science and Nutrition
612-624-3255, lmarquar@umn.edu
Interests:  Food quality, food service management, whole grains and health, cereal grains

Dr. Marla Reicks, Department of Food Science and Nutrition
612-624-4735, mreicks@umn.edu
Interests:  Nutrition education and application of behavior change theory

Dr. Jeffrey Reneau, Department of Animal Science
612-624-9791, renea001@umn.edu
Interests:   Dairy cattle production systems

Dr. Jonathon Wheaton, Department of Animal Science
612-624-1225, wheat001@umn.edu
Interests:  Reproductive physiology with the aim of improving reproductive efficiency; emphasis on cattle and sheep

Dr. Zata Vickers, Department of Food Science and Nutrition
612-624-2257, zvickers@umn.edu
Interests:  Food acceptability, sensory evaluation of foods

Plant Sciences

Dr. Neil Anderson, Department of Horticultural Science
612-624-6701, ander044@umn.edu
Interests:  Flower breeding and genetics 

Dr. Jerry Cohen, Department of Horticultural Science
612-624-9212, cohen047@umn.edu
Interests:  Plant biochemistry; Cellular and molecular biology related to the regulation of plant growth and development.

Dr. Linda Kinkel, Department of Plant Pathology
612-625-0277, kinkel@umn.edu
Interests:  Ecology of plant-associated micro-organisms, especially antibiotic-producing bacteria, in native prairie and in agricultural soils

Dr. Bud Markhart, Department of Horticultural Science
612-624-7705, amarkhar@umn.edu
Interests:  Acclimation and adaptation of plants to a hostile fluctuation environment, with emphasis on the role of the root system in plant adjustment to water and temperature stresses

Dr. Deborah Samac, Department of Plant Pathology
612-625-1243, dasamac@umn.edu
Interests:  Disease resistance and persistence of alfalfa stands, and to introduce new traits into alfalfa to increase utilization in new environments and for new uses

Dr. Alan Smith, Department of Horticultural Science
612-624-9290, smith022@umn.edu
Interests: Genetics, biotechnology, tissue cultures

Dr. Brian Steffenson, Department of Plant Pathology
612-625-4735, bsteffen@umn.edu
Interests:  Barley genetics, disease resistance

Dr. Deon Stuthman, Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics
651-644-8588, stuth001@umn.edu
Interests:  Oat genetics and breeding; durable pest resistance; sustainable agricultural systems.

 Dr. Christian Thill, Department of Horticultural Science
612-624-9737, thill005@umn.edu
Interests:  Breeding, genetics, cytogenetics, and the utilization of wild germplasm in potato cultivar development and enhancement

Dr. Cindy Tong, Department of Horticultural Science
612-624-3419, c-tong@umn.edu
Interests:  Molecular biology

Dr. Eric Watkins, Department of Horticultural Science
612-624-7496, ewatkins@umn.edu
Interests:  Turfgrass science

Bioresources and Bioenergy

Dr. Kevin Janni, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
612-625-3108, kjanni@umn.edu
Interests:  Air quality, livestock systems, ventilation

Dr. Roger Ruan, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
(612) 625-1710, ruanx001@umn.edu
Interests:  Biorefining, bioprocessing, biofuel, biomaterial and value-added process development

Dr. Jonathan Schilling, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
612-624-1761, schillin@umn.edu
Interests:  Biodeterioration and biodegradation 

Dr. Sangwon Suh, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
612-624-5307, sangwon@umn.edu
Interests:  Industrial ecology and Life Cycle Analysis

Dr. Ulrike Tschirner, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
612-624-8798, tschi007@umn.edu
Interests:  Biomass conversion (pretreatment, saccharification, pulping)

Environmental Science, Policy and Management

Dr. Deborah Allan, Department of Soil, Water and Climate
612-625-3158, dallan@umn.edu.
Interests:  Plant root-soil interface, determine how roots and rhizosphere processes can be managed to improve efficiency of nutrient use and minimize environmental pollution.

Dr. Robert Blair, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
612-624-2198, blairrb@umn.edu
Interests:  Land use effects on bird and butterfly communities

Dr. Terry Cooper, Department of Soil, Water and Climate
612-625-7747, tcooper@umn.edu
Interests:  Environmental assessment worksheets, environmental montioring

Dr. Dean Current, Department of Forest Resources
612-624-4299, curre002@umn.edu
Interests:  Fair trade, sustainable natural resource management

Dr. Tim Griffis, Department of Soil, Water and Climate
612-625-3117, tgriffis@umn.edu
Interests:  Climatology

Dr. Rocky Gutierrez, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
612-624-2720, gutie012@umn.edu
Interests:  Game bird ecology; endangered species; and habitat relationships of wildlife

Mark Hove, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
612-624-3019, hovex002@umn.edu
Interests:  Freshwater mussels, upper-Midwest mussel and fish distribution

Dr. Karen Oberhauser, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
612-624-8706, oberh001@umn.edu
Interests:  Invertebrate conservation and ecology, with particular interest in monarch butterflies; Citizen Science and ecological monitoring; Promoting a citizenry with a high degree of scientific and environmental literacy.

Dr. Tyson Ochsner, Department of Soil, Water and Climate
612-624-6158, ochsner@umn.edu
Interests:  Soil, hydrology, agricultural impacts on the environment

Dr. Michael Russelle, Department of Soil, Water and Climate
612-625-8145, russelle@umn.edu
Interests:  Agricultural impacts on the environment

Dr. Ingrid Schneider, Department of Forest Resources
612-624-2250, ingridss@umn.edu
Interests:  Attitudes and behaviors of those involved in recreation and nature-based tourism activities. Specific interests include conflict and diversity in recreation.

Dr. Andrew Simons, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
612-624-6292, asimons@umn.edu
Interests:  Fish distribution and evolution

Dr. David Smith, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
612-624-5369, smith017@umn.edu
Interests:  Biology and conservation of Asian mammals, conservation data bases, ecosystem management, and population genetic structure

Dr. Peter Sorensen, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
612-624-4997, soren003@umn.edu
Interests:  Physiology and behavior of fish; olfaction; fish reproductive biology; pheromones; control of exotics; fish migration; aquatic chemical ecology

Dr. Bruce Vondracek, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
612-624-8748, vondr001@umn.edu
Interests:  Fish community ecology and stream ecology