Interested in joining the lab?

Thanks for your interest in joining the group!  If you are a prospective student, please scroll down for more information on specific undergraduate and graduate opportunities.  Please also take a look around the rest of this website to get a sense for active research projects in the lab, which emphasize optical and chemical oceanography, with a heavy dose of observational method development.  If you are interested in marine organisms, ecology, and/or aquaculture systems, you will find it useful to connect with other faculty in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences.


Prospective undergraduate students

There are a variety of ways for UMaine undergraduates to get involved, ranging from academic experiences (e.g. SMS capstones and honors projects) to occasional paid summer internships.  The Estapa lab is based at the Darling Marine Center, so most lab- and field-based projects will require a period in residence at the DMC.

In general, paid internships are infrequently available and depend on grant funding.  These opportunities will be posted at right when they become available.  If you are a UMaine student, please check out the Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) for opportunities to secure your own funding.

Interested in a capstone or honors project for academic credit?  Potential research projects could involve remote sensing or profiling float data analysis, coastal marine microplastics research, and estuarine carbon cycling. Literature review capstones in any area of chemical or optical oceanography are also possible.

Paid undergraduate internship opportunties

None available at present, but check back in January 2023!


Prospective graduate students - General Info

  • Most support for graduate students in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences comes from research grants awarded to individual faculty.  These opportunities are infrequently available.  If there is an open opportunity in my lab, it will be listed at right.
  • Occasionally some support is available through department-funded teaching and research assistantships, but in general I will only accept students into my lab for graduate study if external grant funding or a graduate fellowship has been awarded.
  • If you are interested in pursuing an Oceanography MS or PhD degree in my lab:
    • Look around this website — are your interests a good match for the active projects? 
    • If grant support is not available, you will need to explore options for securing your own funding.  Some programs are listed below (it is not an exhaustive list!).  Pay close attention to deadlines, application procedures, and eligibility criteria.
    • Contact me via email to discuss your interests and funding options before applying to the program.  In your email, include a concise description of your own interests and background, discuss how they are related to my active projects, and attach a copy of your CV. 
    • I receive many inquiries about graduate study, and may not be able to respond if you have not addressed the above steps.
  • Graduate fellowship programs to look into:

Available graduate research assistantships

There are no research assistantship opportunities available in the Estapa lab right now.  More information about the Oceanography degree program at the University of Maine can be found here.  A list of other School of Marine Sciences faculty can be found here.