ECOSs – Prospective Graduate Students
The ECOSS mission is to conduct high-impact, innovative research on ecosystems and how they respond to and shape environmental change, to train next-gen scientists, and to communicate discovery and its relevance to people.
NAU Campus: with San Francisco Peaks
ECOSs Grads
PhD and MS positions in Ecosystem Ecology are available in the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss) at Northern Arizona University. Graduate student benefits include a stipend (teaching assistantship or research assistantship), tuition waiver, health insurance, and payment of non-tuition fees.
NAU Campus: with San Francisco Peaks
address
ECOSS
Northern Arizona University
P.O. Box 5620
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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Interested in Applying?
The first step to becoming an Ecoss graduate student is to find a potential advisor. Candidates should explore our available research opportunities below, and contact the professor whose interests align most closely. Please include a cover letter describing your background, research interests, and qualifications, as well as a current resumé or curriculum vitae.
Application Process
Ecoss graduate students earn their degrees through multiple programs because faculty affiliations differ. These programs include M.S. or Ph.D. programs in the Department of Biological Sciences, the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS), the School of Earth and Sustainability (SES), Department of Sociology and the School of Forestry. Potential advisors can help you determine which program is the most appropriate to apply to.
When should you apply? The NAU Graduate College publishes current deadlines for each program. Though these differ across programs, Ecoss prefers that you apply before January 15. Further, applications submitted before December 1 may be considered for a prestigious NAU Presidential Fellowship.
Ecoss is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We strongly encourage applications from women and members of historically marginalized groups. We are a partner in the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Bridge program. Some prospective students may wish to apply through that program, which employs different deadlines and instructions. Learn more about the AGU bridge program here.
Graduate Research Opportunities
Ecoss has thirteen core faculty members.Below, we list current opportunities posted by Matthew Bowker (biocrusts, drylands & restoration ecology), Mariah Carbone (earth system science, carbon cycling), Bruce Hungate, Egbert Schwartz & Paul Dijkstra (microbial ecology, soil ecology), George Koch (physiological ecology & global change ecology), Michelle Mack & Xanthe Walker (northern ecosystems, global change & wildfire) and Ted Schuur (Arctic ecosystems & global change ecology). Check back for updates and new postings!
Environmental Exposure in Native American Communities
1. Oil and Gas fields in Aneth Chapter
2. Abandoned Uranium Mine in Oljato, Utah
3. A 2,500-gallon water tank so community members can have access to water
4. Scenic view overlooking the Mittens in Monument Valley Tribal Park.
Degree Program: Master of Science in Geography
Contact: Tommy Rock tommy.rock@nau.edu
Description: Do research on environmental exposure in Native American communities. Research on uranium exposure and ambient gases from oil and gas fields in Aneth, Utah, and Counselor, New Mexico. Water-related research, such as water quality and access, is needed. I work with Native-led grassroots organizations such as Tolani Lake Enterprise and Tse Bii. I want to help make a sustainable community using solar panels, composting, showers, and rainwater catchments for tribal elders, implementing traditional ecological knowledge, and working with traditional knowledge holders.
Stored Nonstructural Carbon in Oldest Trees on Earth
Stored Nonstructural Carbon in Oldest Trees on Earth
Description: The Dryland & Intermountain Restoration Team (DIRT lab), is seeking applications from prospective students interested in refining and advancing techniques to restore biological soil crusts (biocrusts) in degraded sites in Montana. Biocrusts are a coherent “living skin” on the soil surface engineered by soil-dwelling organisms including tiny non-vascular plants and microbes. Biocrusts are integral to rangeland ecosystem function because they prevent erosion, protect fertility and regulate hydrology. The student would join a team including a post-doc, and another student in the project, and focus on refinement of our novel field techniques and their infusion into a broader ecological restoration program being implemented at a private ranch, currently being managed for conservation and science.
More information: Antoninka A., Faist A., Rodriguez-Caballero E., Young K.E., Chaudhary V.B., Condon L.A., Pyke D.A. 2020. Biological soil crusts in ecological restoration: emerging research and perspectives. Restoration Ecology 28:S3-S8. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/rec.13201
Using radiocarbon to understand the dynamics of heartwood formation
Arctic carbon emissions and the global climate
Sink limitation of wood growth in trees
Stored Nonstructural Carbon in Oldest Trees on Earth
Contact: Bruce Hungate (Bruce.Hungate @nau.edu), Egbert Schwartz (Egbert.Schwartz@nau.edu), Paul Dijkstra (Paul.Dijkstra@nau.edu)
Climate warming, carbon balance of boreal forest and Arctic tundra ecosystems
Description: We work on the ecology of northern forests and tundra throughout Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. We study the community and ecosystem impacts of a warming climate on plants, soils, and people. Our current research focuses on changing northern disturbance regimes and impacts on vegetation succession, nutrient dynamics, carbon storage, and feedbacks to climate. We also apply ecological theory to design effective wildfire management strategies that increase human adaptation to a warming climate. We focus on ecosystem and landscape ecology and employ a wide range of field and laboratory methods, including radiocarbon and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, plant and soil chemical analyses, dendrochronology, and statistical modeling. Through long-term collaborations, we access methods in molecular biology and remote sensing. We lead the NSF-funded Bonanza Creek Long-term Ecological Research program (Michelle is the PI, and Xanthe leads wildfire research) and participate in the NASA Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment
Model system ecology using biocrusts
