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Hi all,</div>
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I am reaching out to see if you might have any undergrads who would be interested in completing a thesis-based Master's in my lab. I anticipate hiring two MS students (at UIS, we use the term "Graduate Research Assistant", or GRA) beginning Fall 2026 as follows:</div>
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<div role="presentation" class="elementToProof">One GRA on NSF-funded project for two years of MS study (covers stipend and tuition)</div>
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<div role="presentation" class="elementToProof">Quick intro to the project is here
<a class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA6804ceee-f0cf-8b46-916d-9d0bbf846b3b" href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2432654&HistoricalAwards=false">
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2432654&HistoricalAwards=false</a> </div>
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<div role="presentation" class="elementToProof">Tasks primarily include field work, site maintenance, data downloads and maintenance, and data analysis — could potentially involve some remote sensing and/or microclimate modeling depending on the GRA's interest
and skillset; I will be hiring a Postdoc on this project as well to finish up</div>
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<div role="presentation" class="elementToProof">One GRA on an Internal Research Fellowship (covers stipend and tuition)</div>
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<div role="presentation" class="elementToProof">This position will likely support and contribute to the NSF project above but will have some flexibility towards designing their own project along the same themes, ideally either completing microclimate modeling
or field work of urban ET</div>
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The expectation for either position would be to join the UIS M.S. Program in Environmental Sciences and complete a Thesis as a closure. There's more information for prospective students here:
<a title="https://www.uis.edu/environmental-studies/prospective-students" class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA392249ac-cba0-b200-0ea4-1e2025b1d920" href="https://www.uis.edu/environmental-studies/prospective-students">
https://www.uis.edu/environmental-studies/prospective-students</a>. Another great opportunity for funding here is our Graduate Public Service Internship program (<a title="https://www.uis.edu/gradinterns/gpsi-program" class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA8238a93f-b4a6-1415-de48-75cf6bd7197c" href="https://www.uis.edu/gradinterns/gpsi-program">https://www.uis.edu/gradinterns/gpsi-program</a>),
which can also pay a stipend and tuition for the M.S. degree at UIS.</div>
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To be included in the eligible applicant pool, students must apply to the MS program and (at the same time) indicate their interest in GA and GRA positions (and make sure you complete the questionnaire and provide all three references). The deadline to be in
this pool is March 15, but there will be another round of hiring in May/June if the positions are not filled in March.</div>
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Please let me know if you have any questions, encourage interested students to reach out, and
<u>share with other colleagues who might have interested students!</u> I want to make sure to get some stellar folks in these positions!</div>
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Kyle</div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="elementToProof"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; background-color: white;"><b>Kyle Blount, Ph.D.</b></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; background-color: white;"> (</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(118, 62, 155); background-color: white;"><a style="color: rgb(118, 62, 155); margin: 0px;" rel="noopener noreferrer" title="https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why" class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA59adf401-6202-f4ef-7c39-e1acc2f37af4" target="_blank" href="https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why">they/them</a></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; background-color: white;">)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left; background-color: white; margin: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;" class="elementToProof">
Assistant Professor of Ecohydrology, <span style="background-color: white;">University of Illinois Springfield</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Water and Terrestrial Ecohydrology for Resilience (WATER) Lab</span></div>
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<span style="color: rgb(118, 62, 155); background-color: white;"><a style="color: rgb(118, 62, 155); margin: 0px;" rel="noopener noreferrer" title="https://kyleblount.weebly.com/" class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWAbd1cd077-91fd-1b05-e727-0c3fecd0b9bb" target="_blank" href="https://kyleblount.weebly.com/">Website</a></span><span style="color: black; background-color: white;"> |
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