M.S. Assistantship, Freshwater Mussels — Washington State University Vancouver
Dr. Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens and Dr. Stephen Bollens, Co-Directors of the Aquatic Ecology Lab at Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA have one paid position available for a new master’s degree student in Environmental and Natural Resources Sciences (ENRS) to start in August 2025. Note: The priority deadline to apply for the M.S. in ENRS is January 10, 2025.
In addition, see below for information about an exciting NSF-supported National Research Trainee (NRT) opportunity that is also available starting in August 2025. (Note: NRT fellowship applications are due November 7, 2024; which is BEFORE the M.S. assistantship priority deadline of January 10, 2025.)
The M.S. assistantship will specifically support a student to conduct research related to the feeding dynamics of native freshwater mussels (i.e., grazing on phytoplankton and microzooplankton) in the lower Columbia River. The academic position will officially begin on August 16, 2025; however, there is an opportunity to begin the position earlier in summer 2025, prior to the start of the Fall 2025 semester.
The successful graduate student will be supported on a combination of Research Assistantships and Teaching Assistantships, and possibly Fellowships (see below), plus full tuition waivers and health benefits. Graduate students at WSU are now unionized as Academic Student Employees (https://wsucase.org/before-and-after-union/), and students on the Vancouver campus receive a competitive stipend ($2,974/month, equivalent to ~$35,000 annually).
Please visit our website for more information about the Aquatic Ecology Lab and our research (https://labs.wsu.edu/aquatic-ecology/). Our group is committed to supporting the professional development of diverse students in aquatic science, with a focus on equity and inclusion in all aspects of our research, collaboration, and mentoring. We welcome applications from students who will contribute to this mission.
Degree program: M.S. in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences
Deadline: For admission to our graduate program, we are currently accepting applications, with priority given to those who apply by January 10, 2025. For further information about the graduate programs in Environmental Science, and for instructions on how to apply, please visit the website (https://cas.vancouver.wsu.edu/science-graduate-programs).
NSF-supported NRT fellowship opportunity
In addition, there is an exciting fellowship opportunity available through the National Science Foundation's National Research Traineeship (NRT) Program on "Rivers, Watersheds & Communities: Training an Innovative, Cross-Sector Workforce for Equitable, Multi-Scale Decision-Making Towards Human and Ecosystem Health" (RWC NRT) at WSU. This program trains graduate students to do research that tackles water challenges in the Columbia River Basin hand-in-hand with the communities impacted. For more information on how to apply, please follow this link: https://nrt-rwc.wsu.edu/how-to-apply/.
**Please note the RWC deadline of November 7, 2024, which is separate from the priority due date for applications to the MS Environmental and Natural Resources Science graduate program. Please contact us prior to submitting an application.
Contact: Please contact Dr. Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens (rollboll@wsu.edu) and/or Dr. Stephen Bollens (sbollens@wsu.edu) for further information and before applying to one or both programs.
Campus and Facilities
Washington State University Vancouver is one of six campuses in the WSU system, and is located within the greater Portland, OR-Vancouver, WA metropolitan area, near the Columbia River, Cascade Mountains and coastal ocean. The 351-acre campus offers new, state-of-the-art classroom and research facilities, where teaching and research are conducted in an interdisciplinary and collaborative atmosphere. WSU Vancouver is a welcoming campus to faculty, students and staff of all backgrounds, is actively dedicated to equity and diversity, and is a recipient of the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from Insight Into Diversity Magazine in 2019 and 2023.