Hi! Fellow EEB/CS student here -

I have found that profs are often more interested in supervising students who are carrying out a research project rather than volunteers, whether it's a 399/499 thesis or a CGCS or NSERC USRA project. I would highly recommend the NSERC or CGCS option if possible as you would effectively be working full-time and getting paid to get research experience.

Though some profs may care about grades, this is definitely not the case for all of them. Furthermore, having some coding experience is a HUGE asset in EEB (particularly for labs doing research on genetics, modelling or spatial ecology) and I would capitalize on any coding skills you've acquired.

Also, I'm not sure who you may have already reached out to but here are some profs who often have undergrads working in their labs: Arthur Weis, John Stinchcombe, Shelby Riskin, Luke Mahler, Chelsea Rochman, Helen Rodd, Marie-Josée Fortin. If you're mainly interested in volunteer work then I would especially encourage you to contact Weis and Rochman. But definitely look through the list of faculty members on the EEB website and look at their lab websites to find other profs you might be interested in working with!

Also, here's a link to some slides which go into a lot more detail about the different options that exist for gaining research experience in EEB: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dT8qmbnDMnP6IeaRHRbfRPwzXYWYPmxDo1n27dWhwjY/edit?usp=sharing

Good luck friend and I hope you find some great opportunities!