Ph.D. Assistantships for Fall 2017
The Montana State Fluvial Landscape Lab is now accepting applications from exceptional students to compete for one of five graduate research assistantships ($30,000 annually to cover tuition/fees/stipend) offered by the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University. GRA's will fund the first year of Ph.D. graduate education in Ecology and Environmental Sciences; after the first year, students will be supported over time through more broadly leveraged funds (graduate teaching assistantships, etc.) with the expectation that grant funds will also be pursued.
The assistantships are restricted to applicants to the Ph.D. program; M.S. students and postdocs are not eligible.
Potential research topics are diverse and student-directed within one of three broader efforts where grant proposals are already under development:
The assistantships are restricted to applicants to the Ph.D. program; M.S. students and postdocs are not eligible.
Potential research topics are diverse and student-directed within one of three broader efforts where grant proposals are already under development:
Hydro-biogeochemisty of Montane Alluvial Aquifers. The successful candidate will conduct field-based and simulation-based research on the Nyack Floodplain of the Middle Fork Flathead River, bordering Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana, USA. The research question focuses on how surface- and subsurface-water exchange influences carbon cycling in the larger riverine ecosystem. Research will be conducted with a interdisciplinary group of researchers including Ashley Helton and Michael Hren (UConn), and Clem Izurieta, Ben Colman, Jack Stanford, (Montana University System) and Amanda DelVecchia (Allegheny College). Research would include development of cutting edge hydro-biogeochemical simulation models using constraint-based modeling approaches as well as field work collecting and analyzing water chemistry and stable isotope data from the field site.
Regional-scale Modeling of Hyporheic Exchange. The successful candidate will work to develop, parameterize, and apply simulation strategies for scaling the effects of surface- and subsurface-water exchange in rivers, and will link resulting strategies to the Model for Scale Adaptive River Transport (MOSART). The modeling approach will address hyporheic exchange has a driver of both river temperature and biogeochemistry based on a prototype quasi-1D, multi-zone hydrological transient storage model under development in the Fluvial Landscape Lab. The research would be conducted in conjunction with Dr. Hongyi Li in the MSU Department of Land Resources and Environmental Science and Dr. Clem Izurieta in the MSU Gianforte School of Computing.
Effects of netspinning caddisflies on whole-stream hydrology and ecosystem processes. The successful candidate will conduct field and simulation studies of how netspinning caddisflies alter streambed hydraulic conductivity and thus govern patterns of hyporheic exchange and whole-stream respiration rates in gravel-bedded streams. Work will include field work to measure, and hydrogeologic modeling to simulate, patterns of ground- and surface-water exchange and associated oxygen dynamics in stream ecosystems. The research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Lindsey Albertson in the MSU Ecology Department.
The Fluvial Landscape Lab provides a supportive, collaborative environment within which student learn, grow, and mature as both scientists and individuals. Members of the lab have a passion for ecosystem science, quantitative applications, and joie de vivre. Bozeman is a paradise for those who love the outdoors, with outstanding opportunities for skiing, floating, climbing, hiking, cycling, fishing, and any other outdoor activity you might imagine. Lab graduates have gone on to successful and highly productive careers as university faculty members, government scientists, state agency scientists, and consultants.
The ideal candidate for an assistantship would have:
The ideal candidate for an assistantship would have:
- a background in quantitative ecology or a degree in a related engineering field;
- disciplinary skills/experience in aquatic ecology, hydrology, hydrogeology, biogeochemistry, solute transport, or another related field;
- well-developed math/computer skills (e.g., coding, GIS, R, statistics, mathematics, or similar);
- field experience in water resources.
- a cover letter;
- a personal statement describing experience and career goals;
- C.V.;
- college transcripts