I (Eric Lonsdorf) am recruiting a PhD student to join a collaborative team working to integrate the contributions of nature to people into decisions aimed at supporting more sustainable cities and agricultural systems. The student would be supported by a graduate fellowship and join a cohort of other students as part of Emory University’s Environmental Sciences and Society (ESS) graduate program.

I study how ecosystems contribute to people’s well-being and how decisions shape those contributions over time. The collaborative projects I’m a part of blend ecological modeling, climate change science, and decision analysis to tackle applied problems—from pollinator services and conservation and sustainable agriculture to urban resilience and natural capital accounting – my published work can be found here.

I am looking for a student with strong quantitative skills and a passion for connecting science to sustainability challenges. Ideal candidates will have experience in one or more areas such as geospatial analysis, statistical or ecological modeling, environmental or ecological economics, or decision analysis, and some programming experience with tools like R, Python, or MATLAB. Evidence of clear writing or communication is important, as is an interest in collaborative, transdisciplinary research that bridges ecology, data science, and societal decision-making. This student will gain experience in integrative modeling (e.g., InVEST, custom Python/R/matlab workflows), work directly with decision-makers, and develop projects that connect fundamental ecology with applied solutions for sustainability. The student will also have the opportunity to work with the Natural Capital Project, where I am a senior fellow, and contribute to applied projects with Natural Capital Insights, a company I co-founded.

Rather than e-mailing me, please let me know of your interest by filling out this brief questionnaire.

Apply here by December 1st! Frequently asked questions are found here.