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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;" id="docs-internal-guid-9e5bb1b6-7fff-cfab-75a3-0cc94dcd5f23">
<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Dr. Akash Koppa's lab
at the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, College Park is seeking a motivated PhD student to start in Fall 2025. The student will work on answering fundamental research questions related to how drylands form.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Project
Description</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">:
A rapidly warming climate is expected to accelerate this dryland expansion. Consequently, not only will societies face permanent water insecurity, but plant and animal biodiversity will be under threat. Despite these consequences, very little is known about
the physical mechanisms which cause irreversible long-term drying of humid regions. An unexplored mechanistic pathway is how land–atmosphere feedbacks in local and upwind areas modulate the expansion and formation of drylands. Interested candidates are referred
to </span><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn6833" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Koppa
et al. (2024), Science</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">
for preliminary evidence of the role land–atmosphere feedbacks in dryland expansion. </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Role
Description</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">:
The student will work on a) coupling a Lagrangian atmospheric transport model with Earth system model simulations, b) developing a novel mathematical framework decompose the source of drying into its and and ocean components, and c) using the aforementioned
tools to develop a novel theory of dryland formation from a land–climate feedback perspective. </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Preferred
Qualifications</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">:
The successful candidate should a) have a Bachelors and/Masters degree in a related field (e.g. environmental science, climate science, Earth science, civil engineering), b) have experience in developing algorithms for exploratory data analysis in a programming
language of their choice, c) have prior experience in numerical modeling. </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Application</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">:
Interested students are requested to send the following materials to Dr. Akash Koppa (</span><a href="mailto:akash.koppa@epfl.ch" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">akash.koppa@epfl.ch</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">
and </span><a href="mailto:akash.koppa90@gmail.com" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">akash.koppa90@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">)
with 'PhD position on land–climate interactions in drylands' as the subject matter: </span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;" role="presentation">
<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">A motivation letter
(less than 600 words) addressing the following questions: a) why do you want to do a PhD?, b) why are you interested in this particular research topic?, and c) how will you leverage your education and experiences in approaching the research problem?</span></p>
</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;" role="presentation">
<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">A detailed curriculum
vitae with unofficial transcripts. </span></p>
</li></ol>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Applications
will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Informal interviews will be conducted between November 15–30, 2024. The successful candidate will have to apply to the graduate program in the Department Environmental Science & Technology at the University of Maryland,
College Park before December 15th 2024. </span></p>
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<p>Best Regards</p>
<p>Akash Koppa</p>
<p>Assistant Professor <br>
</p>
<p>Dept. Environmental Science & Technology</p>
<p>University of Maryland, College Park <br>
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