Graduate opportunities in Ecology, Evolution, and the Environment

Graduate Program in Ecology, Evolution, and the Environment at the University of Notre Dame

The Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame offers a wide range of research opportunities and graduate coursework in ecology and evolutionary biology, allowing students to excel in field, laboratory, and mathematical biology.  Strengths of the program include:  studies on the dynamics and divergence of populations, evolutionary and ecological genomics, terrestrial and aquatic community and ecosystem ecology, epidemiology and disease ecology, experimental biology, and the impacts of global changes, including climate change, invasive species, and land use change.  Our close-knit faculty provides interdisciplinary research opportunities and excellent research mentorship. Our students take advantage of many resources at Notre Dame, including excellent laboratory facilities in the Hank Family Center for Environmental Studies and state-of-the-

art instrumentation in our Center for Environmental Science and Technology (CEST; https://cest.nd.edu), the Genomics & Bioinformatics Core Facility (http://genomics.nd.edu), and the Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility (ND-LEEF).  Other hubs of EEE research include the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC; http://underc.nd.edu/) with sites located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and western Montana and the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (http://environmentalchange.nd.edu/). Numerous opportunities for interdisciplinary interactions among research areas are available, including our GLOBES graduate training program (http://globes.nd.edu/).=20

The following faculty members are currently training graduate students in diverse areas of ecology and evolution:

Beth Archie – behavioral ecology, disease ecology, and population biology

Gary Belovsky – terrestrial ecology and modeling, conservation biology

Sunny Boyd =96 behavorial ecology, neuroendocrinology and behavioral neuroscience

Jeff Feder – ecological and evolutionary genetics, speciation

Mike Ferdig – systems genetics of malaria parasite drug resistance

Hope Hollocher – population genetics, speciation, evo-devo, and landscape epidemiology

Stuart Jones – aquatic microbial and ecosystem ecology

Gary Lamberti – stream ecology and plant-animal interactions

Jason McLachlan =96 ecology and evolution of plant populations, statistical modeling, paleoecology

David Medvigy =96 terrestrial ecosystem modeling, ecosystem-climate interactions

Alex Perkins =96 modeling, disease ecology, population biology of disease vectors

Mike Pfrender =96 ecological and evolutionary genomics, adaptation, phenotypic plasticity Matt Ravosa =96 evolution and pathobiology of the mammalian skull and musculoskeletal system

Adrian Rocha =96 arctic terrestrial ecology

Jeanne Romero-Severson =96 genomics of adaptive variation in natural populations of forest trees

Jennifer Tank – stream ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry

All graduate students are funded with competitive stipends.  A variety of fellowship opportunities are open to top applicants. For more information regarding the Biology Graduate Program see http://biology.nd.edu/ and http://graduateschool.nd.edu/.  The deadline for receipt of all application materials for the Ph.D. program is December 1st, 2017, although earlier submission is encouraged to ensure full consideration for available fellowships. Please begin your application by directly contacting faculty of interest.