Updated 30 November 2012
Graduate Students
Research Assistantships
Forest disturbance modeling (PhD level): Funding is available for a Ph.D. student to study forest responses and vulnerability to climate change and natural disturbances, with an emphasis on bark beetle outbreaks. Project goals include incorporating a predictive model of mountain pine beetle outbreaks into the Community Land Model; assessing the influence of future climate changes on outbreaks; and quantifying the impact to forest dynamics. Interested applicants should apply to the Geography or Environmental Science program. Contact Dr. Jeffrey Hicke for more information (jhicke@uidaho.edu;www.uidaho.edu/~jhicke/modeling_grad_ad.pdf).
Agricultural Climatology (PhD level preferred): Two research assistantships are available to join a collaborative research project working on aspects of agricultural mitigation/adaptation and climate change in the Inland Pacific Northwest. The overall goal of this USDA-NIFA funded project is to enhance the sustainability of cereal production systems under ongoing and projected climate change while contributing to climate change mitigation (http://reacchpna.uidaho.edu/reacchpna). The broader interdisciplinary team of faculty organized to achieve this goal includes climate change scientists, economists, agronomists, soil scientists, entomologists, plant pathologists, and weed scientists at three land-grant universities (University of Idaho, Washington State University and Oregon State University). Participating students, therefore, will have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with diverse faculty and students from three different institutions as part of their graduate experience. Specifically, research will be to characterize projected climate change and its impact on agriculture across the inland Pacific Northwest. Research will include analyzing and modeling climate across inland dryland/rainfed cropping zones of eastern Washington and northern Idaho, including, but not limited to evaluating projected changes in agroclimatic zones and irrigation demands under future climate scenarios as well as historic and projected climate-insect interactions and weather-driven soil erosion. Students will interact with other students and scientists working on diverse aspects of this broadly collaborative project on climate change and agriculture. Prospective students should have a background in quantitative geography or ecology, atmospheric science, or a related earth sciences field. Priority will be given to candidates that have experience with computer programming. The position provides 12-month salary support ($22-27k/yr) plus health insurance, tuition, and fees. For more information contact Dr. John Abatzoglou (jabatzoglou@uidaho.edu) and Dr. Von Walden (vonw@uidaho.edu).
Teaching Assistantships
Teaching assistantships are offered by the department, upon recommendation by the department graduate admissions committee. Our department teaching assistantships are typically used to support graduate students who assist in teaching labs in introductory physical geography and courses in GIS and remote sensing. Funded students usually continue to receive their aid while in residence up to a maximum of two years (optional), if they make satisfactory progress toward the degree.
Postdoctoral Scholars and Research Scientists
None at this time