Welcome to the Dryland Ecology and Management Lab. Thank you for your interest in our work. I am looking for creative, hard-working, conscientious and enthusiastic students and postdocs who have a passion for ecology and natural resource management.
Selecting a graduate advisor is a critical part of choosing a graduate program. You will be working closely with your graduate advisor over the course of several years and it is very important to make a choice that is a good fit in terms of shared research interests, advising style, and general approach to doing science.
As a first step before reaching out, please look thoroughly through the lab website to get an idea of the type of questions we address and where we are working.
If you find that the research is of interest to you and in a topic area that you envision working on over several years, then I would look more closely at the most recent publications coming from the lab.
After this, if you are still excited about the research focus of the lab group, you should write me a letter of introduction.
This is a professional letter that includes all of the important information, including the items listed below.
Attached curriculum vitae
Your general research interests and how they intersect with the work we are doing
Whether you are applying for a M.S. or Ph.D. program
Research experience
Educational background
Why you want to obtain an advanced degree and some thoughts on what you would like to do after graduate school
Why you are specifically interested in joining our lab
Graduate students I advise can pursue degrees in either the CSU Graduate Degree Program in Ecology or the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship’s Graduate Degree Program In Rangeland Ecosystem Science.
For more general information regarding the CSU Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, you can go to the departmental website, which fully describes the different types of degrees and the requirements throughout the program: Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship.
For full consideration applications to the CSU graduate program are due October 1 and February 1 for the following spring and fall semester, respectively.
I am ALWAYS looking for postdocs with aligned research interests to join the lab through independent fellowship opportunities. Please reach out if you are interested in co-developing a proposal for one of the following opportunities (or others!):
USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship (due annually in September)
David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship (due annually in September)
NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (due annually in November)
