[ES_JOBS_NET] Ph.D. student assistantship, Clemson University

[Thomas L O'Halloran]

Ph.D. student assistantship available

The O'Halloran lab in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation at Clemson University currently has an opening for a Ph.D. student starting in summer or fall of 2017.  We seek an enthusiastic and inquisitive student who is interested in understanding mechanisms of land-atmosphere interactions with particular focus on forests.  Potential broad research topics include: environmental controls on managed forest productivity, coastal carbon cycling, aerosol new particle formation, albedo radiative forcing, and coastal forest disturbance ecology. The student will have the opportunity to work at two AmeriFlux sites in Virginia (switchgrass and loblolly pine) where Dr. O'Halloran is co-PI, as well as take a leading role in developing new flux tower sites in coastal South Carolina, where potential host ecosystems include longleaf pine forest, baldcypress-tupelo wetland forest, and saltwater marsh.  A student with sufficient incoming transfer credits will spend one year completing coursework on main campus and then relocate to the Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science to join the lab group and complete their fieldwork and writing.  A full research assistantship (including stipend and tuition waver) is available for three years, but students will also be encouraged to seek their own funding through national fellowships (e.g. USDA, NASA, NSF).

The Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science is located just outside of historic Georgetown, SC.  Under a long-term agreement with the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, the Institute is located on the 16,000-acre Hobcaw Barony at the southern end of the Waccamaw Neck and is just 35 miles south of Myrtle Beach and 60 miles north of Charleston. Hobcaw Barony is located on the Atlantic Ocean, bordered by Winyah Bay and North Inlet Estuary. The Institute is housed in a new 12,000 sq. ft. LEED-certified office building with an adjoining 7,000 sq. ft. laboratory and support facility.  Temporary housing is available on site for visiting scientists and students in a new 10-bed cottage.

Clemson University is a highly selective, public, land-grant university serving a uniquely driven and highly accomplished student body. Ranked as a top-25 national public university by U.S. News & World Report, Clemson is a science- and engineering-oriented university dedicated to teaching, research and service. Clemson recently achieved the status of Carnegie classification of Highest Research Activities ("R1"). The University is located in a college town setting on Lake Hartwell within view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Clemson is a 2-hour drive from Atlanta, GA or Charlotte, NC. For more information, please visit: http://www.clemson.edu/about/

Required Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in forestry, ecology, atmospheric science or other closely related environmental science. Strong quantitative abilities, self-motivation and desire to do field work in coastal South Carolina, where the work is physically demanding in a hot, humid environment.

Preferred Qualifications: M.S. degree (highly preferred) in forestry, ecology, atmospheric science or other closely related environmental science.  Programming experience in MATLAB or R.  Fieldwork experience in ecology or forestry.
To apply, send a CV, unofficial GRE and TOEFL scores (if available) and a cover letter stating your previous experience, interest in this specific position, and future goals to Dr. O'Halloran.  Review of applicants begins immediately.  The official university deadline to apply for summer entry is March 15.

Contact info and more details about the lab are available here: http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/faculty_staff/profiles/tohallo


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Thomas L. O'Halloran, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology & Forest Science
Dept. of Forestry and Environmental Conservation
Clemson University
tohallo at clemson.edu
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