GRADUATE STUDIES

GRADUATE STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES

Positions are currently available in the Laboratory for Landscape and Conservation Ecology for advanced graduate students at the Ph.D. level (i.e., students with previous Masters experience), who are broadly interested in studying the consequences of land-use/land-management practices and the effects of landscape fragmentation on some aspect of biological diversity (e.g., genetic structure of populations, population viability, community structure).   Although students pursuing their graduate studies in the LLACE are usually interested in some combination of landscape ecology, conservation biology or grassland ecology, students may design a research program involving any system or species of interest.  Recently, students in the LLACE have worked with grassland birds, snakes, and lizards.  Ultimately, research in the LLACE is question-driven, rather than system- or organism-driven. 

Students accepted into our graduate program are guaranteed full support (12 months) for the duration of their program as long as they are making good progress toward the completion of their degree.  Although financial support is sometimes made available through graduate teaching assistantships (GTAs) awarded by the KSU Division of Biology, these positions are extremely limited and therefore highly competitive.   Therefore, prospective students may also wish to attempt to secure funding by applying for one or more graduate fellowships, either before or at the time of application.  Regardless of the source of support, all graduate students have the same responsibilities and time commitments, which include instruction of undergraduate lab-based courses (4-6 hours/week), developing a program of study involving graduate-level coursework, and writing a dissertation based on original research of sufficient quality to merit publication in refereed journals.  

Application deadlines are 15 January for the Fall semester and 1 August for the Spring semester, but applications from exceptionally qualified candidates will be considered at any time.

See Graduate Studies in the LLACE for more information and application procedures or contact Dr. Kimberly A. With

Graduate Fellowships

The LLACE will gladly consider sponsoring outstanding students who wish to apply for graduate fellowships to work in the LLACE.  Please contact Dr. Kimberly A. With to discuss potential research directions.  Some possible sources for graduate fellowships are:

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program--Deadline: early December (Life Sciences).   Fellowships for individuals in the earliest stages of their graduate study, leading to research-based masters or doctoral degrees in the fields of science (including biology/ecology), mathematics, and engineering.  

EPA Science toAchieve Results (STAR) Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study--Deadline:  late October.  Graduate Fellowships for masters and doctoral-level students in environmentally related fields of study.

***Other potential sources for graduate fellowships may be found here

POSTDOCTORAL OPPORTUNITIES

Postdoctoral Fellowship in NSF Landscape Epidemiology project

We have a position available for a postdoctoral scientist to study landscape epidemiology as part of a project funded by the NSF Ecology of Infectious Disease program.  This project addresses disease spread in heterogeneous landscapes to evaluate the effects of landscape pattern or heterogeneity on epidemics.  Existing plant disease epidemiology data sets will be used to parameterize models and there will also be the opportunity for the successful applicant to design new lab or field experiments to inform the modeling approaches.  New investigations might make use of the nearby Konza Prairie NSF LTER site (www.konza.ksu.edu), several long-term agricultural experiments associated with KSU, or other field sites or greenhouse settings.  There will also be opportunities to apply landscape ecology approaches in the context of on-going ecological genomics projects (www.ksu.edu/ecogen).

The postdoc will be co-advised by Karen Garrett (www.ksu.edu/pdecology) and Kimberly With (www.ksu.edu/withlab) and work as part of a larger collaborative project with Chris Mundt (www.science.orst.edu/bpp/faculty/mundt), XB Yang (www.plantpath.iastate.edu/dept/labs/xbyang), and Jim Stack (www.gpdn.org)

Applicants should have experience in ecological modeling and a PhD in epidemiology, spatial or landscape ecology, plant pathology, or related field.  Preference will be given to candidates who have experience with simulation modeling and/or network or graph theoretic approaches, or who have demonstrated potential in these areas. 

Review of applicants will begin November 5, 2008, and continue until the position is filled.

Applications should include a cover letter with a statement of research interests and timing of availability, a CV, and names and contact information for three professional references.  Please send your application through e-mail to both kgarrett@ksu.edu and kwith@ksu.edu.  To ensure that your application is received, please include the following in the subject of your e-mail: ‘Application for Landscape Epidemiology Position’. 

Desired start date is by January 31, 2008, but is negotiable.  The position offers competitive salary and benefits.

Kansas State University is located in the college town of Manhattan (population ~45,000) in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas, about 2 hours away from Kansas City.  Kansas State University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and actively seeks diversity among its employees.

The Laboratory for Landscape and Conservation Ecology provides opportunities for postdoctoral researchers interested in continued professional advancement.  Advertised positions will be posted here when available, but the LLACE will gladly consider sponsoring outstanding candidates who wish to apply for postdoctoral fellowships to work in the LLACE.  Contact Dr. Kimberly A. With to discuss potential research directions.  Some possible postdoctoral fellowship opportunities are:

David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship Program--Deadline: late September. Founded by the Nature Conservancy, this program is now led by the Society for Conservation Biology and offers postdoctoral fellowships to support research that links conservation science and theory with pressing policy and management applications.

NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology--Deadline:  November 3, 2008.  The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology to recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas of biology supported by BIO to encourage independence early in their research careers and to permit them to pursue their research and training goals in the most appropriate research locations regardless of the availability of funding for the Fellows at that site.   With this solicitation, BIO is establishing a program solicitation for announcing selected areas for its postdoctoral research fellowships.  Currently the BIO programs are: Broadening Participation of Under-represented Groups in Biology and Biological Informatics. Bioinformatics supports research and training in developing and using computational, statistical, and other tools to address important scientific questions in biology.

All Field Research Positions have been filled for this year.  Please check back for openings early next year.