Recruiting for a fully-funded PhD student position in computational conservation at the Missouri Botanical Garden

I am excited to recruit a Ph.D. student to start in the fall of 2027 to join the Global Change and Conservation Computation Lab (GC3L) at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Working with lab members, other mentors, and me, the successful applicant will design their own research project focused on integrating weather (versus climate) into conservation biogeography and climate change vulnerability assessment. Possible areas of modeling focus include, for example, examining how extreme weather affects species’ distributions and abundances, joining models with phenological or morphological data collected from the Missouri Botanical Garden’s herbarium (one of the world’s largest), or exploring how climate cycles (e.g., El Niño/La Niña) affect restoration success. We do not have a geographic area of focus other than Earth, but nearly all of our work has a strong modeling component and/or focuses on global change.

I would be a good advisor for students who 1) want to make a positive impact with their lives through conservation; 2) have life or work experience outside a standard classroom setting (i.e., people who have been out of school for a while and are wanting to return); and 3) have a quantitative background and/or enjoy coding. Please see my mentoring statement: https://earthskysea.org/mentoring.

The student will join the Global Change and Conservation Lab and ~50 Ph.D.-level researchers, plus other Ph.D. students, and postdocs at the Garden. The student will be enrolled in and receive their degree from the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology graduate program at nearby Washington University in Saint Louis where I have a joint adjunct appointment, and so will also be part of that vibrant academic community. Funding is anticipated via University and Garden fellowships for 4 years; full details will be confirmed prior to formal interviews.

If you are interested, please complete an application to the lab at this link: https://forms.gle/ZD6U7nsBNSB7Gscf7 by October 25th, 2026. Please do not apply to Washington University in Saint Louis unless you hear back from me (unless you are interested in working with another professor at WUSTL). The reason I am using this two-stage process is because the WUSTL application requires an application fee and a number of essays, so I want to respect your time and funds. Applications for Ph.D. positions at WUSTL are due December 1st of 2026.

Relevant websites:

If you have questions, please contact me at adam.smith@mobot.org.

Adam

Adam B. Smith, Ph.D.
Scientist in Global Change & Conservation
Center for Conservation & Sustainable Development
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Boulevard
Saint Louis, MO 63110 USA
https://earthSkySea.org