Information for prospective lab members
Announcements
Updated Fall 2025
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- Undergraduate students: We are not currently seeking undergraduate researchers or technicians, but please see below for information on potential opportunities.
- Graduate students: We are not actively recruiting during this application cycle.
Undergraduate opportunities
We offer opportunities for undergraduate research experience on a frequent but irregular basis. These opportunities may involve laboratory or field work, depending on the project, and undergraduates can gain skills in ecological and environmental methods and the scientific research process. Interested students can contact the lab with a brief statement of your background and interest. Please note, specific opportunities will be listed at the top of the page quarterly – if nothing is listed, there are likely no research opportunities available at this time.
Graduate opportunities
Graduate students can join the lab through the Biology Department or the Environmental Studies Program. Both programs offer PhD and MS degrees, but course requirements and other program activities differ. Graduate students in the lab are expected to develop independent research projects that align with overall lab research areas (please see the Research page for more information on areas of interest). Field ecology is the foundation of the lab’s work, and graduate students should anticipate a project that centers empirical fieldwork and statistical modeling. Projects are likely to include additional approaches, including but not limited to mesocosm or lab-based experiments, environmental monitoring and modeling, spatial data analysis, and biogeochemical and molecular techniques. While the Environmental Studies Program is more explicitly interdisciplinary than Biology, research questions, methods, thesis committees, and coursework will all have interdisciplinary elements in both programs.
Prospective students should thoroughly investigate the two programs to assess which program may be a better fit. Please note, admissions are highly competitive. Applicants at the PhD-level should have a strong research record, either through completion of a Master’s degree, a strong undergraduate research record through a senior thesis or research internships, employment as a research technician, or other relevant professional experience. Applicants at the MS-level should have experience in research, preferably including fieldwork in coastal ecosystems. Prospective students should send the PI an email including the following: 1) your CV with academic and professional experience; 2) a brief statement of your career goals and how pursuit of a graduate degree will contribute to those goals; 3) a brief statement of your ideas for a research project, and specifically why you want to pursue research in our lab.