Opportunities

Students Wanted

I am seeking graduate (MS and PhD levels) and undergraduate students to join my research group. I have current and pending funding for research projects in Alaska and elsewhere.

Financial support: All students who are accepted to the graduate program are funded as either Teaching or Research Assistants. Undergraduate assistants are frequently needed for the lab and the field.

Graduate degrees: My students pursue their Master’s degree in either Geology or in the Paleoenvironments Emphasis of Environmental Sciences & Policy, and their PhD degree in Earth Sciences & Environmental Sustainability with an emphasis in either Climate & Environmental Change or Earth Systems.

Subbottom stratigraphy, Emerald Lake

For more information: Please contact me or any of my graduate students for information about the graduate programs at Northern Arizona University. NAU has a great deal to offer students, and Flagstaff is a wonderful town in an attractive, high-elevation, American West setting.

Career paths: Since 1995, I have served as the primary advisor for 36 successful graduate students. Almost all of the MS theses have led to publications in scientific journals. My students have gone on to professional careers in: geoscience consultants, government- and university-based scientists, university professors, college instructors, and small business owners.

Facilities: Students are trained in both field and laboratory procedures. The laboratory combines techniques in sediment analyses and  geochronology, including radiocarbon. Daily operations are overseen by a full-time laboratory manager.

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Kevin preparing samples for biogenic Si analysis

Field equipment: lake coring platform, percussion corer, Uwitec surface corer, automated sediment traps, logging sensors for hydrological and meteorological parameters, conductivity-temperature-depth loggers, recording sonar

Sediment lab equipment: particle size analyzer, hyperspectral core scanner, magnetic susceptibility, onsite cold room, microscopes, microbalance, sonicators, drying ovens

Sediment lab procedures: radiocarbon sample preparation, ABA treatment, diatom purification, cryptotephra separation, biogenic silica content, loss on ignition

Amino acid geochronology lab equipment: high performance liquid chromatographs, high precision ovens, laminar flow hood

Megan & Dave preparing water samples