Note to potential grad students
I'm sorry to say that as of spring 2024, I can't take on any new students until I get a few other things off my plate, and help a few current students graduate.
In general: I'm particularly interested in welcoming creative and self-motivated people. It's great if you have research experience or strong quantitative skills. In an email, please briefly describe your research interests and background. Include a CV or resume. As I am not filling a position on a grant at this time, funding would be through a fellowship awarded to you (e.g. if you apply for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship) or TA-ships.
My approach to advising:
I believe that an extremely important part of graduate school is learning to define interesting and feasible questions. I will lead masters level students through this process, but as much as possible given constraints of funding sources, I encourage PhD students to find topics of their own that excite them rather than handing them a previously defined research project. Masters students will usually collaborate with me on a project while PhD students can either collaborate with me or branch out on their own depending on overlap of interests, levels of experience, and funding source. We have lab meeting once each week to discuss papers, bounce around research ideas, and plan out ongoing projects.
Graduate school is hard work. It can be lots of fun, too, don't get me wrong. But the pay is low, and the hours are long. It can be more than a full-time job at times. To get through and do a good job, it helps to love science and really crave an answer to the particular question you settle on. That said, throughout the course of getting a degree, questioning specific career paths is normal and completely fine. I put a lot of energy into my students and my lab, and I expect my students to put a lot of energy into making the most of their education and graduate school. For research degrees in the sciences, this means publishing your work. Even for students who move on to careers that typically don't have a publication component (e.g. natural resource management, etc.) publication is an expected part of the degree process.
Funding:
Funding for graduate students is tight. As grants come in, I will advertise research assistantships here. Other possibilities include applying for fellowships (e.g. NSF and EPA). If you have a strong background (good grades, and/or relevant experience), you may be eligible for university support through TAships and RAships. I can accept students either through the Department of Agricultural Biology or through the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. CSU is a fantastic place for ecology of all sorts, and my brand of evolutionary ecology in particular.
Fort Collins is a fun town close to good hiking and skiing. Here are some useful links:
Graduate School at Colorado State University
CSU Department of Biology
The City of Fort Collins
Agricultural Biology home page.
GDPE home page.
In general: I'm particularly interested in welcoming creative and self-motivated people. It's great if you have research experience or strong quantitative skills. In an email, please briefly describe your research interests and background. Include a CV or resume. As I am not filling a position on a grant at this time, funding would be through a fellowship awarded to you (e.g. if you apply for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship) or TA-ships.
My approach to advising:
I believe that an extremely important part of graduate school is learning to define interesting and feasible questions. I will lead masters level students through this process, but as much as possible given constraints of funding sources, I encourage PhD students to find topics of their own that excite them rather than handing them a previously defined research project. Masters students will usually collaborate with me on a project while PhD students can either collaborate with me or branch out on their own depending on overlap of interests, levels of experience, and funding source. We have lab meeting once each week to discuss papers, bounce around research ideas, and plan out ongoing projects.
Graduate school is hard work. It can be lots of fun, too, don't get me wrong. But the pay is low, and the hours are long. It can be more than a full-time job at times. To get through and do a good job, it helps to love science and really crave an answer to the particular question you settle on. That said, throughout the course of getting a degree, questioning specific career paths is normal and completely fine. I put a lot of energy into my students and my lab, and I expect my students to put a lot of energy into making the most of their education and graduate school. For research degrees in the sciences, this means publishing your work. Even for students who move on to careers that typically don't have a publication component (e.g. natural resource management, etc.) publication is an expected part of the degree process.
Funding:
Funding for graduate students is tight. As grants come in, I will advertise research assistantships here. Other possibilities include applying for fellowships (e.g. NSF and EPA). If you have a strong background (good grades, and/or relevant experience), you may be eligible for university support through TAships and RAships. I can accept students either through the Department of Agricultural Biology or through the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. CSU is a fantastic place for ecology of all sorts, and my brand of evolutionary ecology in particular.
Fort Collins is a fun town close to good hiking and skiing. Here are some useful links:
Graduate School at Colorado State University
CSU Department of Biology
The City of Fort Collins
Agricultural Biology home page.
GDPE home page.
