UPDATE (August 2024): I DO plan to admit graduate students this cycle! Please reach out ([email protected]) for more details. In your email, please provide information on research experiences and interests, motivation to pursue this opportunity, career aspirations, and an ideal start date. Please include a current CV.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Watershed Hydrology Lab moved to the University of Wisconsin, Madison in August 2024 after residing at the University of California, Santa Cruz since 2018. Several of the lab members remain at UC Santa Cruz to finish up their degrees, but new lab members will join us at UW Madison. Go Badgers!
As a student in the Watershed Hydrology lab, you will be associated with the Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences at University of Wisconsin, Madison. This department has approximately 50 graduate students and 10 post-doctoral researchers at any given time.
The Watershed Hydrology lab mixes field-intensive research with quantitative and computationally rigorous analyses. Thus, students must be willing to work in sometimes strenuous outdoor environments, carrying heavy equipment and working long hours (rain can fall all hours of the day/night!). Students must also be comfortable with quantitative methods of scientific inquiry. The Watershed Hydrology lab primarily uses R software for analyses, so experience or willingness to learn R, MATLAB, or other similar software is required.
The incoming postdoc and graduate students will design their research in collaboration with PI Dr. Margaret Zimmer, and topic areas include, but are not limited to: field, lab, and/or computational analyses of precipitation-streamflow relationships, critical zone science, surface water-groundwater interactions, urban hydrology, water quality in agricultural landscapes, and soil hydro-biogeochemistry.
The ideal candidate thrives in an active and collaborative team setting. Our lab is motivated to maintain a productive, diverse, and inclusive lab environment and we encourage applicants from under-represented groups to consider this program. In addition, UW Madison has several initiatives to help foster a welcoming environment for all (e.g. Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).
I encourage graduate students who work with me to apply for outside funding, from such programs as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. That said, if you are accepted to this program, we will work to ensure you have complete funding throughout your graduate tenure through a mix of TA and RA appointments.
Expectations in the Watershed Hydrology Lab (as adapted from Melissa Wilson-Sayres and Adam Ward)
I am looking for motivated, flexible, and independent researchers who enjoy collaborative and positive work environments. Graduate school is undoubtedly a serious commitment and you have chosen to pursue it to achieve a range of intellectual and/or professional goals. My job is to ensure your time in the our lab helps you achieve those goals in a supportive, stimulating, and rigorous environment. In return, I expect you to fully participate in the lab group, support other members of the lab group, and to be productive during your time (e.g. present at conferences, publish manuscripts, attend seminars, etc.). In an effort to make my expectations clear, I have prepared a list of my responsibilities as an adviser to my graduate students and a list of expectations I have of graduate students in my lab. During the application period, I encourage you to discuss these expectations and responsibilities with me to create a personalized set of student-adviser expectations.
My responsibilities as an adviser
- Work with students to identify and address research objectives through collaborative design of a thesis or dissertation project
- Provide financial support throughout graduate school, which includes travel support to at least one scientific conference per year (if presenting)
- Provide a supportive, constructive work environment that is collaborative in nature
- Meet one-on-one weekly to discuss progress and plans during early stages of graduate tenure, and biweekly/ as needed during late stages
- Consistently discuss future career goals and help facilitate achievement of those goals - your success is my success!
- Listen to concerns and feedback and be flexible during difficult times.
My expectations for students in the lab
- Be open, excited and eager to learn and collaborate
- Participate in lab group meetings and in departmental events, e.g. seminars
- Follow through on weekly meetings and short-term research plans
- Apply for outside funding (I will help you identify fellowships)
- Be a team player in the lab group (team work makes the dream work!) and don't be afraid to ask for help
- Be rigorous and serious with your science
- Submit 1 manuscript as MS student and 3 manuscripts as PhD student during your time in the lab (doesn't need to have been accepted by graduation)
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Watershed Hydrology Lab moved to the University of Wisconsin, Madison in August 2024 after residing at the University of California, Santa Cruz since 2018. Several of the lab members remain at UC Santa Cruz to finish up their degrees, but new lab members will join us at UW Madison. Go Badgers!
As a student in the Watershed Hydrology lab, you will be associated with the Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences at University of Wisconsin, Madison. This department has approximately 50 graduate students and 10 post-doctoral researchers at any given time.
The Watershed Hydrology lab mixes field-intensive research with quantitative and computationally rigorous analyses. Thus, students must be willing to work in sometimes strenuous outdoor environments, carrying heavy equipment and working long hours (rain can fall all hours of the day/night!). Students must also be comfortable with quantitative methods of scientific inquiry. The Watershed Hydrology lab primarily uses R software for analyses, so experience or willingness to learn R, MATLAB, or other similar software is required.
The incoming postdoc and graduate students will design their research in collaboration with PI Dr. Margaret Zimmer, and topic areas include, but are not limited to: field, lab, and/or computational analyses of precipitation-streamflow relationships, critical zone science, surface water-groundwater interactions, urban hydrology, water quality in agricultural landscapes, and soil hydro-biogeochemistry.
The ideal candidate thrives in an active and collaborative team setting. Our lab is motivated to maintain a productive, diverse, and inclusive lab environment and we encourage applicants from under-represented groups to consider this program. In addition, UW Madison has several initiatives to help foster a welcoming environment for all (e.g. Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).
I encourage graduate students who work with me to apply for outside funding, from such programs as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. That said, if you are accepted to this program, we will work to ensure you have complete funding throughout your graduate tenure through a mix of TA and RA appointments.
Expectations in the Watershed Hydrology Lab (as adapted from Melissa Wilson-Sayres and Adam Ward)
I am looking for motivated, flexible, and independent researchers who enjoy collaborative and positive work environments. Graduate school is undoubtedly a serious commitment and you have chosen to pursue it to achieve a range of intellectual and/or professional goals. My job is to ensure your time in the our lab helps you achieve those goals in a supportive, stimulating, and rigorous environment. In return, I expect you to fully participate in the lab group, support other members of the lab group, and to be productive during your time (e.g. present at conferences, publish manuscripts, attend seminars, etc.). In an effort to make my expectations clear, I have prepared a list of my responsibilities as an adviser to my graduate students and a list of expectations I have of graduate students in my lab. During the application period, I encourage you to discuss these expectations and responsibilities with me to create a personalized set of student-adviser expectations.
My responsibilities as an adviser
- Work with students to identify and address research objectives through collaborative design of a thesis or dissertation project
- Provide financial support throughout graduate school, which includes travel support to at least one scientific conference per year (if presenting)
- Provide a supportive, constructive work environment that is collaborative in nature
- Meet one-on-one weekly to discuss progress and plans during early stages of graduate tenure, and biweekly/ as needed during late stages
- Consistently discuss future career goals and help facilitate achievement of those goals - your success is my success!
- Listen to concerns and feedback and be flexible during difficult times.
My expectations for students in the lab
- Be open, excited and eager to learn and collaborate
- Participate in lab group meetings and in departmental events, e.g. seminars
- Follow through on weekly meetings and short-term research plans
- Apply for outside funding (I will help you identify fellowships)
- Be a team player in the lab group (team work makes the dream work!) and don't be afraid to ask for help
- Be rigorous and serious with your science
- Submit 1 manuscript as MS student and 3 manuscripts as PhD student during your time in the lab (doesn't need to have been accepted by graduation)
