Information for Potential Graduate Students

I welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students.  I am hoping to accept 1-2 students for the 2010/11 academic year.  Interested students are encouraged to contact me directly by e-mail or phone.  Applications for graduate study are evaluated once per year, in the winter (January 2, 2010 deadline) for admission the following fall (2010), in late September. 

Ecology students are accepted into a graduate program, not into any particular academic department.  Consequently, departments do not provide financial aid.  It is up to the student to secure that funding by either bringing it with them or finding a professor willing to support them.  The Graduate Group in Ecology has tremendous breadth and students are encouraged to find and talk with more than one professor to find a good match and determine who has funding and for what projects.   

Funding is an important issue.  Each year there are many more qualified students than can be accepted because the GGE will only allow professors to accept a student if they can promise some level of financial support.  Teaching Assistantships (which include tuition fee waivers) are also available and with some hustling, most students can secure one quarter of support through this means.  Additionally, I encourage all students to seek external support (i.e., NSF Predoctoral Fellowships, EPA Star Fellowship, etc.)  Serious prospective students should try to visit Davis and meet students and other faculty who might serve as advisors. 

For more information visit the GGE web pages on Funding and Admissions

If I have funding to support a student, it will be for a particular project.  However I encourage my students to pursue their own ideas and interest, and they need not make the funded project their thesis or dissertation if they find another topic of interest to them. 
Master thesis projects are usually completed in 2-2.5 years, and produce one or two journal articles.  A Ph.D. often takes 4-6 years and produces 3-5 journal articles.  Like most professors in the GGE, I prefer my students write up their research in chapters which are articles submitted to peer-review journals.  I work closely with my students to make sure they master good experimental design and writing skills.
In general, most of my students' and my projects are applied research.  I am also a Research Scientist with the USDA Forest Service Sierra Nevada Research Center and often work on conservation and management issues related to Sierran conifer forests.

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