What degree should I pursue?

Undergraduate students may seek any STEM degree and work in my group. I have advised students from civil engineering, environmental science, ag and bio engineering, chemical engineering, biology, horticulture, and soil science in the past. Some students seek the environmental engineering minor along with another major program. Any of these degrees are great options, based on your interest. If you want more guidance on courses, pursuing civil engineering (environment option) places you in my department with more advising potential.

Graduate students that wish to be primarily advised by me on their thesis project may seek MS Environmental Engineering, PhD Civil Engineering, MS Environmental Science, or PhD Environmental Science. Students MUST complete an MS degree prior to enrollment as a PhD student. Many of my students start as MS students and continue on toward PhD with me after graduation. For departmental funding consideration, students should seek one of the engineering degrees. Students with other primary advisors may request I serve on their committee when seeking a degree in any department.

How does funding and research work?

Undergraduate students will work on an existing research project as an hourly undergraduate research assistant. Hours are flexible with most students working 5h/wk during the semesters (full time is often possible in the summer). Research includes collecting samples in the field, running experiments in the lab, completing model runs, organizing and analyzing data, visualizing data, reading peer reviewed literature, and writing. Students are also expected to attend weekly group meetings, individual meetings, and participate in professional development opportunities, lab safety training, and general lab cleaning/maintenance. All undergraduates should present a poster annually at one of the OSU symposiums or local conferences.

Graduate students will typically work on one or more funded research project (could be one listed under projects or a new one recently funded). Graduate students will complete much of the same type of work as undergraduates but with more leadership role, often mentoring an undergraduate student alongside them. Graduate students can be funded on teaching assistantship (TA) where they assist with a course or research assistantship (RA) where they complete work on the funded research project(s). Assistantships provide a monthly stipend and tuition waiver (fees are still an expense however). Regardless of funding, students seeking a thesis/dissertation should work on their research toward their thesis to graduate. MS and PhD students are expected to work independently but seek guidance toward project objectives at weekly individual meetings and group meeting. PhD students are expected to work at a level above MS students by developing their own research questions, aims, and approach for at least one of their thesis chapters. MS students must complete one unique research project and produce a MS thesis with sufficient data to submit for publication upon graduation (it is not expected to be published for graduation). PhD students must complete three unique research projects that provide three different complete manuscripts for publication along with their PhD dissertation which also includes introduction, literature review, and conclusion chapters (in addition to the three manuscripts). Although it is not expected for all manuscripts to be published for graduation, unpublished manuscripts should be sufficiently developed and ready for submissions upon graduation. MS students will defend their thesis with a public oral presentation. PhD students will complete a pre-qualifying exam (on general environmental engineering topics and literature critical review), qualifying exam (written proposal and proposal defense), and public oral dissertation defense. MS students are expected to present at a conference at least once (poster or oral), while PhD students are expected to present at conferences with at least one poster and one oral presentation. Much of this information is outlined in the graduate student handbook that I co-developed with other environmental faculty (email me to request a copy).

Do you have any available TA/RA positions?

My priority is always supporting existing and continuing students. Whenever I have more support that students, positions will be advertised on this site until filled. Advertisements will have specifics about funding commitment and application requirements.

Interested students seeking funding may inquire when positions are not available to be on a waitlist for consideration if a position becomes available in the future. To be considered, you must be admitted into the graduate program and submit CV and statement of goals and interests with specific mention of project(s) of interest and potential contributions to our group. Generic inquiries will be ignored (keep in mind I get five or more requests to advise each day).