Graduate Research Assistantships to Study Interactions Between Reservoir Management and Freshwater Ecosystems as Part of New, NSF-funded Interdisciplinary Study
We seek motivated students to pursue a Ph.D. or M.S. degree at Washington State University, Vancouver, as part of an interdisciplinary, National Science Foundation-funded research project focused on understanding linkages between water management and aquatic ecosystem function in freshwater reservoirs. The project, a collaboration between ecologists, economists, and engineers, will use reservoir water management as a test-case to understand how the environment, society, and new knowledge interact to shape rule-following, rule-bending and rule-reformulation behaviors, and how, in-turn, these behaviors affect reservoir ecosystem responses (for more information, see: https://labs.wsu.edu/dises/ and https://news.wsu.edu/news/2021/10/11/nsf-funded-research-examines-socio-economics-of-flexible-environmental-rules/ ). Each successful applicant working on the biophysical components of the project will be expected to develop a research focus in one of the following areas: aquatic greenhouse gas emissions, water quality, harmful algal blooms, and/or aquatic invasive species. If interested, for more information, please contact Dr. John Harrison ([email protected]; https://labs.wsu.edu/gcwblab/) if primarily interested in greenhouse gas fluxes or water quality, Dr. Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens ([email protected]; https://labs.wsu.edu/aquatic-ecology/) if primarily interested in harmful algal blooms, or Dr. Stephen Bollens ([email protected]; https://labs.wsu.edu/aquatic-ecology/) if primarily interested in aquatic invasive species.
Admission requirements and application materials for the M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Natural Resources at WSU Vancouver are available at https://cas.vancouver.wsu.edu/science-graduate-programs.
Students will most likely be supported by a combination of research and teaching assistantships, including tuition waivers; a range of internal (WSU) graduate fellowships are also available. Washington State University Vancouver is a vibrant, rapidly growing research-intensive institution located within the greater Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area, near the Columbia River, Cascade Mountains and Pacific Ocean, and offers an exceptional quality of life.
