Interested in joining the lab?
I advise students in the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) Ph.D. Program. Applications are due in early December, and it’s best to contact me early in the fall semester so that we can discuss your research interests and potential fit in the lab. Obviously, these are both vitally important for a successful graduate school experience. You should have an interest in landscape genetics, molecular ecology, or evolutionary biology, but you probably already know that after reading about our current research in the lab. If your primary interests don’t align closely with one of our major research areas, then it’s unlikely that I would be able to suitably advise you. Most of the work in the lab is on amphibians and reptiles, but we’re actually united over shared research questions and goals rather than any particular taxonomic group, and grad students can work on any study system if they have a good working knowledge of its natural history.
In thinking more generally about graduate school and how to choose the right program, I recommend reading some of the advice that others have written…
Martin Schwartz: The importance of stupidity in scientific research
Stephen Stearns: Some modest advice for graduate students
Ray Huey: Some acynical advice for graduate students