PhD Graduate Assistantship in Environmental Science and Management

Applications are invited for a PhD graduate research assistant in Environmental Science and Management at Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA (located 24 kilometers from New York City) to work with applied mathematicians Dr. Lora Billings and Dr. Eric Forgoston.

• The goal of this NSF funded project is to develop novel approaches to understand how demographic and environmental stochasticity can affect communities connected in large food webs.
• Of particular interest is the study of noise-induced primary and secondary extinction cascades in food webs as well as the susceptibility of food webs to invasive species.
• The work involves collaboration with ecologists based at British Antarctic Survey in the United Kingdom to create an interdisciplinary approach grounded in specific data.
• The results will be useful in improving our understanding of biodiversity and the organization of living communities as well as factors that can stabilize or destabilize ecosystems.
• Our former doctoral students have gone on to excellent postdoctoral research positions including positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory.

Applicants who have obtained a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with a strong background in mathematics, physics, engineering, or a related field, and who are interested in earth and environmental sciences are encouraged to apply. The PhD research assistantship is held in the interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences and Management doctoral program, and therefore the applicant must fulfill all requirements for acceptance to the PhD program (http://www.montclair.edu/csam/environmental-management-phd/). The PhD graduate research assistantship provides a stipend and covers the cost of tuition. Funding for travel to professional conferences is available. The assistantship is expected to begin in September, 2020. Please contact Dr. Eric Forgoston (eric.forgoston@montclair.edu) for further information.

Learn more about the Environmental Science and Management PhD program.