The Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University has a strong and growing group of ecologists. The following faculty are actively recruiting MS and PhD students for the fall 2014:
Brent Danielson: Community ecology, especially of small mammals or mammal-driven - plant communities. We are interested in learning how the interactions between species affect community structure, habitat structure, or ecosystem function in large-scale landscapes ranging from prairie restorations and maintenance to regulation of agricultural weed and insect pests. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jessie/ Diane Debinski: Grassland restoration, pollinator conservation and climate change. We study grassland restoration, pollinator communities, and climate change in Midwestern grasslands and montane meadows. Our approach integrates community ecology, conservation biology, and restoration ecology. We use observational and experimental field ecology, modelling, and macroecological approaches. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~debinski/ Stan Harpole: Biodiversity, species coexistence and global change. We study the mechanisms that control species diversity to better predict the consequences of global change to diversity. Our work is centered on testing and developing biodiversity theory using experimental and observational studies of plant communities, from the scale of local field sites to global experimental networks. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~harpole Kirsten Hofmockel: Metagenomics of microbial communities. We are especially interested in how plant-microbe interactions mediate biogeochemical responses to global climate change. Our approach integrates physiological, metagenomic and ecosystem process data. kirstenhofmockel.org. Kirk Moloney: Plant population and community ecology in a spatial context, with an emphasis on invasive species. Our lab employs a number of approaches, ranging from experimentation, GIS analysis, field biology, simulation modeling and theory. http://kmoloney.public.iastate.edu Brian Wilsey: Ecology and restoration of prairie grasslands. How biodiversity is maintained in prairie grassland systems, how it is altered by non-native species, how it alters ecosystem resistance and resilience to changes in the environment. www.public.iastate.edu/~bwilsey/homepage.htm Research and teaching assistantships and a variety of fellowship opportunities are open to students. Students may apply to one of the interdepartmental graduate programs, such as Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (http://www.grad-college.iastate.edu/EEB/), Interdepartmental Genetics (http://www.genetics.iastate.edu/) or Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (http://www.bcb.iastate.edu/). The deadline for receipt of all application materials for graduate programs is 10 January 2014, although earlier submission is encouraged to ensure full consideration for available fellowships.
