General Information

I am a broadly-trained ecologist that is willing to entertain research ideas from students relating to a wide variety of taxa and settings. Look over my research page and feel free to set up a time to meet with me to discuss ideas.

Types of Studies

Undergraduate and graduate research in my lab ranges from pure fieldwork, labwork, theory, to any combination of the three. As a field ecologist, I have seen many experiments succeed through luck and/or through thoughtful planning. However, even the best-planned field studies can be completely ruined by drought, flood, government shutdowns, rogue raccoons, etc.  To buffer against some of these inevitabilities, I encourage students to incorporate simple lab or semi-natural mesocosm experiments (large cattle tanks filled with water, leaves, salamanders, frogs, researchers with poor balance, etc.) in addition to more risky field studies. Likewise, I encourage those that want to work primarily with lab or theory-based approaches to connect their research to more realistic food webs and ecosystems via large mesocosms or field experiment (potentially through collaboration with more field-oriented folks).  

Undergraduate (BS)

Graduate (MS)

Feel free to contact me with information related to your interests and how you see my mentorship being of use to your path. We have multiple projects that you can get involved in and we have weekly lab meetings where we read and discuss relevant papers. 

Students interested in taking research credits should contact me with the following information:
1) Why you want to do research in my lab & how it fits your interests. 
2) What you want to get out of taking research hours in the lab.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in joining the lab. My lab manager will send you a short google form (3 questions) to fill out and attach your CV or resume to. In an attempt to make the process as fair as possible, the lab manager will anonymize these forms before they are reviewed by the lab.

Because we value a healthy lab culture, admitting new graduate students is a group decision made with input from folks in the lab. Your answers to the Google form and your CV/resume are kept anonymous until we decide on our top candidates. Selected candidates will then have the chance to virtually meet with the lab. At this point, everyone will provide me with feedback, and I will extend an invitation to the top candidate(s).

Important Deadlines:

• The Google Form must be submitted by November 13th.
• Virtual meetings will be held during the month of December.
• Wichita State University's Fall admission deadline is Februrary 1st (subject to change).

Grad students at WSU are generally supported on GTAs (Graduate Teaching Assistantships). Summer support generally comes from grants (contact me early so we can talk about how to make sure you are covered for benefits and pay). At this time, I do not have funding to support international students.