Prospective Students
UCSB is one of the strongest places in the country to pursue a degree in plant ecology. We have a wide diversity of faculty in population, community, and ecosystem ecology and particular depth in plant ecology. The Santa Barbara area and UC Natural Reserve System provide exceptional field sites in habitats ranging from grassland, sage scrub, chaparral, and oak woodland. Desert and alpine systems occur within half a day's drive. Santa Barbara is also home to the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS).
I am interested in accepting motivated students with excellent research experience. I will be considering students to begin Fall 2006 or 2007. Over the course of their dissertation, students will work with me to develop an independent research project. I work as closely as needed with students to ensure that their PhD is creative, novel, and meets their professional goals. I support students generously with both my time and grant support, but the latter is not intended as a substitute for one's own proposals. For example, my current student and I received a USDA grant in Spring 2005 to support her project.
Interested students should read the material on our research group's web page, and read several of our papers, to determine if our interests are a good match. I am comfortable accepting students interested in any area of plant ecology, involving either empirical or theoretical approaches. Applicants interested in working at the interface of experiments and models are particularly encouraged to apply. At the time of application, I do not expect students to know their dissertation topic, but I do expect students to have an idea of types of questions that interest them. All eligible students should also apply for an NSF graduate research fellowship. These fellowships and those administered by the university are awarded in large part on GRE and GPA considerations. Thus, while I am not too concerned with GRE scores (my greatest consideration is research background), the fellowship selection committees are, so it is in student's interest to study for the GRE and take the exam seriously.
If, after reading this and other website information, you are interested in applying to my lab, contact me via email at levine@lifesci.ucsb.edu .