Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
The BROADN Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program at Colorado State University is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and offers undergraduates a mentored research experience.
BROADN’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows work with faculty mentors to investigate how the microbiome of the air is altered by environmental stresses, and how it impacts human, animal, and environmental health. BROADN hosts Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows annually on Colorado State University’s Fort Collins campus from May to August.
We are currently recruiting for the 2026 SURF program
The 2026 program is currently planned to be held at CSU’s Fort Collins campus from May 26 to July 31.
Actual dates may vary slightly.
Applications submitted by February 8, 2026 will receive priority consideration. However, the application process will remain open until all positions are filled.
2026 Potential Projects
Gene discovery: How do microbes survive in the aerobiome?
Lead Investigators: Jan Leach; Brad Borlee
Bacillus are bacteria that have been routinely isolated from the air in sampling performed as part of BROADN. The goal of this project is to discover variants of Bacillus that have lost functions predicted to be important for survival of the microbes in the air. In these laboratory-based projects, Summer students will screen for one or two survival traits that might include resistance to antibiotics, attachment, biofilm/surfactant production, desiccation tolerance, and/or pigment production. A library of Bacillus strains (called an mGWAS population) will be screened using established techniques to identify variants that lack the survival trait.
Students in the Leach lab will learn microbiological techniques (media preparation, bacterial culture manipulation, and library screening protocols) as well as data analysis and presentation skills. Depending on how quickly the variant strains are identified, students could also participate in the computational analysis (a genome-wide association analysis) to identify the genes that account for the trait variation. The project is directly supervised by a collaborative team of BROADN PIs (Leach and Borlee).
Unmasking Aerobiome Superpowers: Genetic Dissection of Microbial Survival Traits
Lead Investigator: Brad Borlee
The Borlee laboratory is focused on developing tools, resources, and assays to test mechanistic models of how bacteria sense and respond to environmental stress. The aerobiome is an untapped reservoir for understanding the physiology of microbes with respect to the organism’s response and adaptation to the extreme environment that bacteria encounter when transiting through the air. In our efforts to better understand the behavior of organisms that survive in the atmosphere, we have isolated bacteria that can survive the stressors of flying through the air.
These bacteria possess superpowers that allow them to kill fungi, nucleate the formation of ice, and produce pigments that may potentially protect them from UV damage. One example of a summer research research project will involve the construction and screening of a library of transposon insertion mutants to identify the genes that contribute to the superpowers that aerobiome isolates employ to survive in the atmosphere and colonization of the new environments that they are deposited into. The summer student will learn how to make a transposon library of bacterial mutants and screen the library for mutants that no longer nucleate the formation of ice, produce pigments, survive desiccation, and inhibit fungal growth.
Innovative Bioaerosol Sampling and Analysis: Developing and Evaluating a High-Efficiency Virtual Impactor for Environmental and Health Applications
Lead Investigators: Shantanu Jathar; Marina Nieto-Caballero
At the Laboratory of Air Quality Research (LAQR), we study the emissions, transformations, properties, and impacts of atmospheric aerosols. Aerosols of natural and anthropogenic origin (which include bioaerosols) have outsized impacts on air quality, climate, human health and ecosystems. LAQR aims to develop an innovative virtual impactor (or concentrator) designed to capture bioaerosols efficiently, thus optimizing the collection of airborne biological particles in a liquid medium. This advancement is particularly important for applications in environmental monitoring, public health, and biodefense, where reliable bioaerosol sampling and detection are crucial. As part of this project, students will play a key role in the analysis of bioaerosols collected during laboratory and field experiments.
These methods include: Optical Microscopy: for initial visualization and morphological assessment. Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR): to accurately quantify specific microbial populations. Omics Approaches: for in-depth molecular analysis and identification of diverse microbial communities. Culturing Techniques: to isolate and grow viable bioaerosol species for further characterization. Summer students will collaborate with a graduate student leading the instrument’s development and optimization. This partnership will involve learning about the principles of virtual impactors, contributing to performance characterization studies, and assisting in troubleshooting and refining the instrument to ensure optimal bioaerosol capture efficiency.
Students will also be involved in both controlled laboratory experiments and real-world field applications, gathering data that will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the virtual impactor’s performance across various environments. This position offers a hands-on experience in both analytical laboratory techniques and applied environmental science instrumentation.
Fungal Resilience: Unraveling Survival Mechanisms of Fungi Under Atmospheric Stress
Lead Investigator: Jane Stewart
The Stewart lab primarily studies the ecology, biology and genetics of forest pathogens. In relation to BROADN, we are characterizing fungal pathogen survivability under harsh atmospheric conditions. In the air, lofted airborne spores are exposed to rapid dehydration and some fungi lose viability within a few hours whereas in other species, like ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes, spore can survive for at least 4 years under various storage conditions. Other studies that have suggested the mechanism for resistance to dehydration may be the ability to fold and then rehydrate or that trehalose accumulation, a nonreducing disaccharide of glucose, plays a role in protection to environmental stressors by protecting proteins and cellular membranes from inactivation or denaturation. There is a need to further characterize these adaptations across a broad range of fungi found within the aerobiome in natural environments.
Eligibility Criteria
Students who will graduate at the end of the spring semester 2026 are not eligible for this program. Participants must be either U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its possessions (NSF requirement).
During the application process, you will be asked to submit unofficial course transcripts, CV or resume, and provide email contact information for two persons who can write a letter of recommendation for you. Letters of recommendation must be submitted by Friday, February 6, 2026
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows will:
- Conduct original scientific research on a project in a BROADN advisor’s research group.
- Participate in a cohort of undergraduate students working on interrelated projects in parallel.
- Develop professional skills for communicating science (elevator speeches, formal presentations, science communication in popular media).
- Discuss resources for professional pathways in STEM careers.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows will receive:
- A stipend of $600/week for 10 weeks ($6,000 total). These funds are considered a scholarship/fellowship and may be taxable. NOTE: If you receive financial aid, please check with your Office of Financial Aid before accepting the stipend regarding any potential impacts on your financial aid package.
- Additional resources may be available for housing in the dorms and a meal plan, depending on available funding.
For more information about the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, please contact program Director, [email protected].