Dear prospective graduate students,
If you are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in my lab (Masters or PhD), you need to know the following. I can only take students if I can support them. Therefore, my funding and research interests largely define the kinds of studies that students can pursue. These are of three general foci; the ecology of coastal marine fishes, kelp forest ecosystems, and salmonid ecology (co-funded with the NOAA Fisheries Lab here in Santa Cruz). Because of my longstanding interest in the behavioral, population and community ecology of marine reef fishes, including their relationships with shallow temperate reef ecosystems, I sponsor students doing both basic and applied ecological research on these species. I also sponsor students interested in any aspect of the kelp forest ecosystems (fishes, invertebrates or algae). Though my students and I largely conduct empirical field research, I prefer students with an interest in combining empirical and modeling work. You can visit the student web pages to get a feel for the breadth of topics they study. If you are interested in salmonid work, especially in freshwater systems, and you do not have independent funding, I strongly recommend you communicate with researchers in the NOAA Fisheries lab here on campus to explore funding opportunities.
Very importantly… (1) I apologize if I have not responded to your personal inquires for graduate studies in my lab, I simply have trouble tracking the voluminous e-mail and responding individually. Don’t assume that I have not received you inquiry just because I have not responded! (2) It is very difficult to predict the kinds and level of funding that will be available to support students between now and Fall of each year. Therefore, I recommend that students who are interested in the topics described in the preceding paragraph apply to my lab as well as other faculty at UCSC who share your research interests, and that will allow us (you and I) to consider you beyond the deadlines identified by the University. If you don’t apply, I can’t consider you between now and next Fall. (3) I very rarely accept students who I do not meet face-to-face, so I suggest you schedule a visit to UCSC in conjunction with other schools on the West Coast. If you do this sooner than later, I also try to help identify other prospective grauate programs that fit your research interests. Because I have trouble keeping up with e-mail, please consider calling me. Thank you for your inquiry and I look forward to meeting you.