Applications are accepted at any time; however, to receive full consideration for fellowships, campus interview, and financial aid, students should apply by December 1 for admission in the following fall semester.
To apply to the Ecology graduate program, students should first contact program faculty members with whom they are interested in working to find out if they have space in their laboratories. Once an appropriate match between student and faculty member has been made, students should review the admission requirements of the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School.
The following documents will be required as part of the Fox Graduate School application process:
- Three letters of recommendation
- Personal statement of motivations and goals
- Curriculum vitae/resume
- Transcript(s)
The graduate programs and Fox Graduate School are committed to verification of application materials; therefore, please ensure that all of your documents can be readily verified as being accurate and authentic.
Admission is granted jointly by the Fox Graduate School and the Ecology graduate program.
Apply to the Fox Graduate School at Penn StateThe diversity of our program is at the core of our innovation and strengthens our excellence. We seek to recruit diverse scholars from all backgrounds; including but not limited to diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and socio-economic background. In recruiting graduate students, we value both their research potential and the potential for students to contribute to our program’s diversity, equity, and inclusion through scholarship, outreach, and/or service to the institution.
Current Opportunities
We are recruiting a PhD student interested in exploring the processes that control the transport of environmental DNA (eDNA) in streams across the US. We seek highly motivated students with an interest in freshwater ecology, a strong work ethic, enthusiasm for field research, and a commitment to collaboration and teamwork. Regular field experiments will take place at streams near each institution, and collaborative field campaigns will occur in the summers at National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) sites across the US. Students with interests ranging from population and community ecology, biodiversity conservation, hydrology, biogeochemistry, and environmental genomics are encouraged to apply. We are particularly interested in recruiting and training students that represent and support diversity and equity in science.
Please contact Daniel Allen with any questions about this position.
PhD Position in Root Systems and Deep Soil Health
The Fleishman Root Agroecology Lab at Penn State is recruiting a PhD student to explore the relationship between root system properties and soil health. The project will examine root traits and soil properties of four forage species (grasses and legumes) up to 1-meter depth. Research areas include root physiology, rhizosphere and soil microbiomes, and soil biogeochemical and water cycling. More about the lab and a link to the full position description can be found here.
MS position: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in lake fishes:
The Wagner Lab at Penn State seeks applicants for a MS in ecology to begin fall 2025. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a global concern due to their impacts on human and environmental health. The successful applicant will lead efforts understand landscape scale patterns and drivers of PFAS in lake fishes, and to predict PFAS concentrations across thousands of lakes to help inform monitoring and management of PFAS in aquatic environments. The successful candidate will be part of an interdisciplinary team of federal, state, and university biologists. The position is in the USGS Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. Lab and full position description can be found here.
PhD position – Riverine Fish Movement Ecology:
The Wagner Lab at Penn State seeks applicants for a PhD in ecology to begin fall 2025. The successful applicant will lead the design and deployment of an acoustic telemetry study with the aim of evaluating the post-release dispersal and survival of tournament-caught riverine smallmouth bass. The successful candidate will be part of an interdisciplinary team of federal, state, and university biologists. The position is in the USGS Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. Lab and full position description can be found here.
*Note that unlisted opportunities are available with other Ecology faculty. The postings above only indicate some of the available projects in the program. Please contact the listed faculty members for more details about each of these projects.