Gregory S. Gilbert Research Group

Environmental Studies Department, University of California Santa Cruz

Dear Prospective Graduate Student,

Thank you for your interest in my research and in the graduate program in Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Because I already have a full lab of graduate students, I would only consider accepting a new Environmental Studies graduate student who is an exceptionally good fit to my lab in Fall of 2012. I will not be accepting any students in the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department in 2012.

However, there are a number of faculty in Environmental Studies (Karen Holl, Deborah Letourneau, Erika Zavaleta, Weixin Cheng) and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Ingrid Parker) with whom I share a great deal of scholarly interests. I encourage students interested in my work to look at their web pages. In particularly, I'd like to encourage applications to ENVS or EEB of applied ecology students interested in cross-cultural science communication and education who would would be a good fit for our SCWIBLES GK-12 graduate training program (scwibles.ucsc.edu). Both departments and the SCWIBLES program strongly support applications from students from backgrounds underrepresented in academia and environmental sciences.

Students entering the Environmental Studies program should be particularly interested in embracing an interdisciplinary program and incorporating both natural and social sciences into their dissertation research. My students usually develop their own dissertation topics, rather than working directly within my ongoing projects. Nevertheless, I am involved at every stage of dissertationa development, and I commonly develop at least one collaborative project with each student. I make every effort to be helpful in developing research projects and in finding funding to support student research. A common theme running throughout my lab is the effort to find ways to effectively incorporate evolutionary ecology into the conservation of biological diversity or agricultural systems. Most of my current research is focused on plant disease ecology, but I welcome students interested in invasion biology, design and management of biological reserves, biotic interactions in complex landscapes, phylogenetic ecology, and tropical ecology and conservation. Students interested in working on the 6-ha UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot are particularly encouraged. UCSC boasts a rich environment for research in tropical systems through our interdepartmental Center fro Tropical Research in Ecology, Agriculture, and Development (CenTREAD). Environmental Studies students are encouraged to build strong links with other faculty from other specialties within the department and across the UCSC campus.

The methods used in research in my lab are driven by the questions asked, and include manipulative field experiments, the use of phylogenetic tools to understand plant community structure, molecular characterization of biological diversity, large- and small-scale epidemiological investigations, simulation models, semi-structured interviews, and participatory action research. I expect students in my lab to work on questions of significance for solving environmental problems, while developing their research within a rigorous theoretical framework. The interdisciplinary research of my Environmental Studies students often incorporate components in environmental policy, rural sociology, geography, or the application of scientific knowledge to resource management.

Half of my work is in tropical Latin America (primarily in Panama, but I've worked in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Colombia, as well as Australia and Micronesia) and the rest in California ecosystems. Similarly, students in my lab are usually focused either on tropical or California-based systems. I encourage students to choose study sites and systems most appropriate to the overall questions they wish to address. Students wishing to do research in tropical systems should have some previous experience in the tropics, given the many logistical difficulties in working there.

The graduate program in Environmental Studies at UCSC expects students to cross disciplinary boundaries. All graduate students are expected to become literate in environmental policy or political economy in addition to expertise in their major fields; the graduate core curriculum helps ensure this, and advisory committees for natural science students always have at least one member from the social sciences. To be admitted to the program students should have completed courses in ecology, policy, economics, and statistics, although some catch-up is permitted once in the program. In addition, depending on the research interests of the student, I would expect a strong background in either mycology/microbiology, statistics, or ecology. I will only accept students to the Ph.D. program that have some previous experience in independent research.

If you are interested in applying to join the Gilbert Lab, please send me an email (ggilbert@ucsc.edu) describing (1) your research interests, (2) why you want to do a Ph.D., (3) your previous research experiences, and (4) relevant academic and work background.

Specific questions about the admission process should be directed to the Environmental Studies Graduate Program Coordinator Marissa Maciel at maciel@ucsc.edu. More information about the department and the graduate program is available at http://envs.ucsc.edu.

Sincerely,

Greg Gilbert