Graduate Student Positions

The EES department is always seeking graduate student applicants each fall admission cycle. Graduate students are typically supported by fellowships, research assistantships or teaching assistantships. The graduate admission process is described in detail here with application deadlines at the end of the year.

If you're looking for graduate school opportunities, we encourage you to contact the faculty members working on topics that interest you directly.

Below are some of the many research opportunities being specifically sought for admission in the 2024 cycle.

Coupled biogeochemical cycles. Professor Gerson is seeking 1-2 PhD students to focus on one of the following projects: the fate of mercury from artisanal gold mining in Peru, Ghana, or Kenya; the impact of agricultural sulfur use in California vineyards or midwestern croplands; the potential antagonism between mercury and selenium; or the local and global fate of trace elements from human activities. This research will involve a combination of fieldwork, laboratory analyses, lab experiments, and modeling. For more information about these positions click here.

Marine seismology. Professor Wei is seeking a PhD student to analyze the collected seismic data from the NSF-funded project SaLOON (Samoa-Lau Ocean Observing Network). This project will deploy 30 ocean-bottom seismographs (OBSs) in the Tonga-Samoa region from 2023 to 2025. The student will work with an interdisciplinary team from multiple institutions to study the interaction between the Tonga-Lau subduction zone and the Samoan mantle plume. For more information about this position click here.

Greenhouse gases in streams and rivers. Professor Aho is seeking 1-2 PhD students to investigate greenhouse gas dynamics in inland waters. Inland waters are “active players” in carbon and nitrogen cycles; they simultaneously transform and transport large amounts of carbon and nitrogen. Some of these transformations produce greenhouse gases, making inland waters natural sources of these climate-relevant gases. Students will have flexibility in choosing a research topic related to greenhouse gas production and/or emission. Potential research themes include novel real-time monitoring, terrestrial-aquatic linkages, carbon dioxide dynamics, etc. For more information about these positions click here.

Tectonic Geodesy.  Professor Elliott is seeking PhD students to work on the following projects: 1. Characterizing deformation during early-stage rifting along the southern East Africa rift system and 2. Investigating past earthquakes and present-day slip behavior along the Alaska subduction zone. Research will involve a combination of data processing and analysis and modeling and fieldwork is a possibility.  In both projects, students will work as part of an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional collaborative team. For more information about these positions click here.

Geodesy. Professor Freymueller is seeking PhD students to work on projects related to the deformation of the Earth due to earthquakes and postseismic deformation, and due to the changing weight of water and ice. We are particularly interested in describing the time-dependent motions of our planet. Research will involve a combination of data processing and analysis and modeling and opportunities for fieldwork are a possibility. For more information about these positions click here.