Prospective Students

[please email me regarding student opportunities]

I am always looking for bright, motivated, and highly independent graduate students. I am open to students from all majors (current students represent backgrounds in Ecology, Botany, Geography, Geology, Engineering…), but incoming students are expected to have a usable understanding of math through several semesters of calculus, at least a year of physics, chemistry, and some hydro and eco kinds of classes; engineering courses are always a big plus. Field experience is also a big plus, as is lab experience. I take on a mixture of MS and PhD students, and acceptance is usually driven by the availability of funding.

Students are expected to participate in weekly meetings and paper discussion groups, and also be willing to participate and assist in the other students’ projects. You will learn more from your peers in graduate school and in informal discussions than you will in most courses.

Students can obtain degrees in either Geography or the Curriculum in Ecology. Both are highly flexible programs and encourage inter-disciplinary thinking and research. However, both are also extremely competitive.

A qualified student with a Bachelor's degree can proceed directly to the PhD program (fast-track option), or obtain a MA as an intermediate step to the PhD (highly recommended). Typically, the MA gives the opportunity for more publications in the course of graduate training, which increases the students' competitiveness in the job market. Also, the MA provides the opportunity to pursue two distinctly different projects in graduate school. Students with more diverse capabilities are also at an advantage in the job market.

The most common form of support for my students is Research Assistantships, combined with Teaching Assistantships. Almost all Ph.D. students teach for one year, which is a great experience for many reasons. A typical mix for a 5-year doctoral program would be a year of a year of teaching, a few years of research assistantship support, and hopefully a fellowship along the way as well. All of my students are encouraged and expected to pursue external funding as part of their time in graduate school.

Admission to our graduate programs is extremely competitive. Graduate training requires focused time by the student, advisor, and group. Therefore I have only a few students at a time, and much of this is dependent on current projects and the current size of my research group. In some years I will accept no new students, and in other years I have room for one or two.

The typical admissions cycle is as follows. Applications are received from September - December. In the middle of January, I review files of applicants. Candidates for UNC fellowships must be put forward sometime in January. In February, we find out who the fellowship winners are, and conduct a second round of admissions to be supported with teaching and research assistantships. All of our decisions are made by about 1 March. Through March and early April, we host visits by accepted students. They make their decisions by mid-April. When funding is available, I encourage my new students to participate in field work during the summer before their first official semester (which begins in the late part of August). By working with other students and staff in the field, incoming students learn the systems we are studying, learn methods, and begin to ask research questions. They also become part of the team, and begin to feel comfortable as partners in our work. By the time classes officially start, the incoming students are ready to get a fast start on their graduate studies and planning for the first field season of their own thesis work.

If you are interested in research in my group, I encourage you to send me an email with your CV/resume, and a description of your research interests. Be as specific as possible, as this will allow me to gauge if my group is the right place for you, or if you should look elsewhere. I also encourage you to contact some of the current students in my group to get a sense of the work we do, and the atmosphere; they can often give you a better sense of the place than I can.

-martin