A graduate opportunity is available in the lab of Dr. Christopher J. Patrick at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi for prospective Ph.D. student wishing to pursue topics in quantitative community and spatial ecology. In particular, the student is being recruited to work on questions related to factors that drive community assembly and ecosystem processes across spatial scales. South Texas has a wealth of aquatic ecosystems and some very strong environmental gradients including one of the steepest precipitation gradients in North America transitioning from arid-lands to humid environments, and a strong connection between marine and freshwater ecosystems. This provides a number of options for student research projects including topics related to climate change, desert stream ecology, effects of hydrologic alteration on stream communities, downstream effects on estuaries, and connections between marine and freshwater food webs. The Patrick Lab regularly combines field work, experiments, geospatial analysis, and statistical modeling with large datasets in our research (patricklab.weebly.com).
Interested students should preferably hold either a M.S. degree in ecology or a related field, or a B.S. degree with at least 2 years of research experience and evidence of strong writing and presentation skills. Prior experience in field ecology, statistical analysis, computer coding (R, Python), and spatial analysis (ArcGIS, other) is preferred but not required. The successful applicant will enroll in the MARB graduate program (http://sci.tamucc.edu/LSCI/MARB/index.html) which is a joint degree program shared by TAMU, TAMU-Corpus Christi, and TAMUC-Galveston. Funding for stipend and health benefits will be provided through a mix of graduate research and teaching assistantships. Fellowships opportunities are also available through the MARB program and graduate school programs. Graduate student stipend is generous relative to the low cost of living and recreational and research opportunities abound in the coastal ecosystems near the waterfront campus. Interested students should send a CV, unofficial transcript, and cover letter describing your prior experience, potential research interests, and career goals to Dr. Christopher Patrick at [email protected].
