Graduate Student Inquiries
If you like what you’ve seen and want to inquire about openings in my lab at the master’s or Ph.D. level, then please contact me (email preferred) and tell me a little about yourself. I’ll want to know your alma mater and major, your relevant work/research experience, and when you would be available to start. I’ll respond with a canned message indicating that 1) I have no positions available or 2) I’m looking to fill a position and encourage you to apply. If I’m seriously considering you for a position, I’ll want to conduct a personal interview with you before committing to serve as your advisor.
In Natural Resources Ecology and Management at Oklahoma State, we offer tuition waivers for all graduate students on assistantships (research or teaching). A master’s student on an assistantship receives about $1200 per month for 12 months (GRA) or 9 months (GTA). I try to secure summer salary for my students on GTAs so that annual award amounts are similar between the two sources of support. A limited number of fellowships are available each year to outstanding students. These provide a generous stipend, tuition waiver, and no work requirement other than the student’s own research.
What I expect from my students.
If you are a grad student in my lab, then you are smart enough to be doing just about anything else and making a lot more money doing it. You’re here, doing this, because you’re motivated by a conservation ethic that places a higher value on public service and the attainment of knowledge than the amassing of personal fortune. Hopefully, you also like birds.
All advisors will tell you that they expect long hours of self-directed labor from their grad students. We all want you to publish – I’m looking for at least two papers from each Master’s student and three from each Ph.D. But I’ll demand still more: I fully expect my students to give freely of their time to outreach opportunities, to participate fully in departmental seminars and other activities, and to become involved with a relevant professional organization.
For Undergraduates
I am very much interested in mentoring undergraduate students to increase their preparation for careers in the natural sciences. My graduate students are typically engaged in field work from mid-May to mid-July; during each year’s field season we usually have space and support to hire 1-2 undergraduate field assistants. These positions require long, hot, buggy hours of work for little pay, but they provide the type of field experience that is extremely attractive to potential future employers. We could use just about any hard-working, detail oriented person for these types of positions, but the ability to identify birds by song is a big plus.
At any time of year, I welcome the opportunity for undergraduates to perform analyses and prepare manuscripts using our data for term projects or independent study. Please just send me an email if you’re interested.
Important Links:
Job search
http://www.osnabirds.org/on/ornjobs.htm
http://www.ecojobs.com/index.php
http://wfscnet.tamu.edu/jobboard/index.htm
Research & Birding
http://www.paynecountyaudubon.org/
http://okstate.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200918359
http://www.westol.com/~banding/index.htm
http://www.suttoncenter.org/
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/
http://www.partnersinflight.org/
http://www.okbirds.org/
http://www.aviary.org/csrv/eaglePA.php
http://www.uswx.com/us/wx/ok/74075/
Professional societies (Get money to travel to meetings!)
http://www.ummz.umich.edu/birds/wos/index.html
http://www.osnabirds.org/
http://www.wildlife.org/about/index.cfm
http://www.esa.org/
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/ornithology/index.html
