This is an opportunity for graduate studies at the Master’s or doctoral level as part of a collaboration between Gray Turnage, of the Mississippi State University GeoSystems Research Institute (gri.msstate.edu) and the Ervin Plant Ecology lab (garyervin.net).
The US Army Corps of Engineers is funding a project to study the phenology of Oxycaryum cubense (Cuban bulrush) as part of efforts at applying knowledge of this species’ biology towards management of invasive populations in the US. Specific duties of the student will be conducting field studies on phenology of O. cubense and coordinating aspects of the research with a collaborator at Minnesota State University. The student will have opportunities to develop additional avenues of research on this species, under the supervision of Turnage and Ervin.
Preference will be given to students with experience or training in aquatic or wetland plant ecology (especially students familiar with taxonomy of the US wetland flora). Previous research experience, familiarity with GIS and basic statistical approaches, and demonstrated writing skills are also desirable.
The successful applicant ideally would begin work on the project in May 2019, with summer funding provided by the USACoE grant and academic year support provided by a Teaching Assistantship in the MSU Department of Biological Sciences. The Teaching Assistantship support includes a monthly stipend, a waiver of all out-of-state tuition, and a waiver of 71% of in-state tuition and fees. The Department of Biological Sciences also has a limited number of competitive stipend enhancements, in addition to travel awards to assist with pre-admission campus visits.
Interested students should send the following to Dr. Gary Ervin: (1) statement of research interests and compatibility with the above area of research, (2) CV (including GRE percentile scores), and (3) contact information for three potential references. (email: gervin@biology.msstate.edu) Select candidates then will be asked to provide at least one research-based writing sample and to submit an online application for graduate studies.