Finding an Advisor

An advisor, who is a member of the GDPE faculty, is required before you can be admitted to the program.

Here is a list of faculty who are actively looking for students for Fall 2008.

Your advisor is probably the most important aspect of your graduate education. This is the person who will challenge you and guide you, and determine the culture and environment of the lab group that you'll be immersed in. There are several ways to find advisors, some of which include serendipity.

To find an advisor, begin with the library! Search out the articles that interest you the most, and do a lot of citation tracking. Follow the references that are cited until you find individuals in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology who are active and publishing in the things you are most interested in.

Add a little web research to this. Where are these individuals, and what do they seem to be working on now? Who were their past students, and what are those students doing now? Where are they in their career?

When you feel that you identified an individual or a small number of individuals whose work you are very familiar with, and with whom you think you would like to work, contact them, either by letter, phone, or maybe email. Be very clear that you are focusing on this particular individual as a potential advisor, and that you know a lot about her or his research. Initiate a discussion about whether she/he is taking students. If you get the opportunity, plan to visit campus. Personal chemistry and the culture of the lab group of students matters every bit as much as working with a leader in the field.

Even though finding an advisor is your responsibility, the program office will asist you in this process as much as is possible.