The Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management (BSPM) at Colorado State University invites applications from outstanding, well-qualified prospective graduate students for Fall 2016. Our department has research expertise in microbe, plant, and insect biology with several research groups focused on the ecology and evolution of interactions between these diverse groups of organisms. Research questions scale from molecules to ecosystems and range from pure to applied questions.
In addition to accepting graduate students through BSPM’s MS and PhD programs (http://bspm.agsci.colostate.edu/04-2/prospective-students-2/), many of our faculty are able to accept students through other interdisciplinary graduate degree programs such as the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology (GDPE; http://www.ecology.colostate.edu/prospective.aspx) and the Cell & Molecular Biology program (CMB; http://www.cmb.colostate.edu/). For full consideration (including financial support), completed applications are due January 1, 2016 (GDPE and CMB) or January 15, 2016 (BSPM). Applicants are encouraged to contact prospective advisors well in advance of this deadline and to send a brief statement of interest, un-official transcripts and a short CV directly to the prospective advisor(s). Admission to the Department or to one of the interdisciplinary graduate programs is contingent upon acceptance into the faculty advisor's program. The following BSPM faculty members are currently accepting graduate student applications for Fall 2016. Interested students should identify and directly contact potential advisors from this list: Cris Argueso ([email protected]): molecular aspects of plant immunity, systems biology of plant-pathogen-environment interactions. Kirk Broders ([email protected]): ecology and evolution of pathogens of agronomic crops and the microbiome of wheat and dry beans. Cynthia Brown ([email protected]): mechanisms that control the coexistence of plants and the effects of species diversity and plant community composition on ecosystem characteristics such as productivity, resource abundance, and invisibility. Franck Dayan ([email protected]): herbicide resistance, herbicide modes of action Andrew Norton ([email protected]): ecology and evolution of pest organisms and their hosts, weed biological control Paul Ode ([email protected]): plant-insect herbivore interactions, behavioral and evolutionary ecology of insect parasitoids Jane Stewart ([email protected]): use of comparative genomics and population genetics to understand the evolution of pathogenicity in tree pathogens Students with exceptional qualifications may be awarded guaranteed teaching assistantships from the Department and several of the faculty members listed above have grant support for research assistantships. Colorado State University is a top-ranked research university located in Fort Collins, a city of 160,000 residents approximately one hour north of Denver and at the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Fort Collins residents have excellent access to a wide range of outdoor recreation, an active music and arts scene, and a wide range of good restaurants and excellent breweries.
