Opportunities

Information for interested undergraduate students

We are wide open to integrating undergraduates into the lab, especially to work with lab members on ongoing projects. You are always welcome to contact us if you’re excited about plants and want to get involved.    


 

Information for prospective graduate students

We’re always on the lookout for new graduate students who are deeply interested in plant diversity and evolution. Please contact me (Michael) directly if you’d like to explore the possibilities, and visit the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology website for more information on the department and on the mechanics of applying to the graduate program.  

My general strategy is to work with new graduate students very closely during the first two years on developing a really exciting and workable dissertation project. Years 3 and 4 are mainly spent gathering data, and much of the 5th year tends to be devoted to writing everything up. I’m especially hands-on at the beginning and at the end of the process. I’m open to projects of all sorts, but mostly we are focused on macroevolutionary problems that involve an understanding of phylogeny, and field work is strongly encouraged. Some students have chosen to work on problems that we have already developed to some extent (e.g., Viburnum, Dipsacales), and others have moved off in quite different directions. Some have focused on specific plant groups, others on the development of comparative methods, and many on both.  Some have been more molecular, some more morphological, and some more ecological. All of these approaches can work out very nicely!             


 

Information for prospective postdocs

We are always looking for new postdocs. This depends, of course, on sources of funding for various projects.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me (Michael) directly if you would like to explore possibilities.  In general, we are interested in macroevolutionary problems involving plant phylogeny. Please visit the Yale Office for Postdoctoral Affairs website for administrative details on these appointments. You might also be interested in the possibility of a YIBS or Gaylord Donnelley Postdoctoral Environmental Fellowship.