This message is for individuals interested in graduate studies at the School of Natural Resources & Environment.

 To learn about my work, use this home page. You will find descriptions of my current research interests, a list of some recent publications, and a list of student theses. I am always happy to talk to students individually, but it's all here, so please take advantage of the information provided.

 The SNRE home page provides much information relevant to prospective applicants. I especially encourage you to contact the Office of Academic Programs. for further information.

 I am always looking for a few good students. It helps if you can be fairly specific concerning how your interests overlap mine. (The operative word is fairly - - you don't have to provide a detailed research proposal).

 The SNRE has two models for the Masters thesis. The individual thesis typically involves research in some specialty area (e.g., the influence of woody debris on sediment trapping in 1st through 3rd order streams in southeast Alaska) and usually requires a summer or two of field or lab work. The group project typically involves 4-6 individuals in team problem-solving applied to a real-world problem (e.g., recommended guidelines for re-licensing hydropower facilities in Michigan) and usually is more oriented toward policy and management. Students are accepted under one or the other model.

 Most students in the Resource Ecology & Management Group (I am a REM faculty member) choose theses, most students in Resource Policy & Behavior choose projects. That is only the trend, however. In REM, students are accepted only when a faculty member agrees to serve as an advisor. It can be helpful to clearly indicate, in your statement of purpose, your interest in specific subject areas, whether a thesis or a project seems most suitable to you, and 2-4 faculty advisors with whom you think you might prefer to work. It is wise to establish direct contact with those faculty members.

 Funding for graduate students always is a challenge. The SNRE has both research and teaching assistantships, and individual faculty members have grants, that can provide financial support and tuition waivers. These are highly competitive, and so it is difficult to predict an individual's chance of success. Many of our students have been able to find funding in a variety of ways, often by serving as teaching assistants in other departments (some of my students have been GSI's in American Studies, Physics, and Scientific Writing, as well as in SNRE and in the Biology Department). Usually, a deter mined student finds support.

Good luck.A very useful article entitled, "A Primer on How to Apply and Get Admitted to Graduate School in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", by W. P. Carson, appeared in the Fall 1999 Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, Volume 80 Number 4.