Prospective Graduate Students
Are you interested in a quantitative research career that supports the conservation of natural ecosystems?
We always like to hear from sharp, motivated, and hard-working students that are:
- passionate about conservation
- inquisitively curious about how the world works, and
- ready to learn and apply advanced methods that help us shed new light on difficult questions.
Committing to a PhD is a major life decision. Finding the right fit between your interests and abilities, and those of your advisor and research group is key to a delightful experience. Here are a few thoughts that will help you examine whether research at the PLACES lab will help you advance your career goals.
Our work
If you have followed some of our research, you will have noticed our interest in rigorous analyses that help us understand how conservation works and what difference it makes, anywhere on the planet. Our inquiries are:
- inherently interdisciplinary: conservation seeks to affect (“protect”) the natural world, but it always does so by influencing human behavior;
- mostly quantitative: because new data and methods are helping us to generate findings at new and exciting scales and detail; and
- usually applied: we meet decision makers, find out what questions they are curious about, and then help them answer these using the data, methods, and analytical independence that they might otherwise not have access to.
Your interests and abilities
If you have a passion for conservation, a background in economics, quantitative social science, or remote sensing, and advanced statistical or computational skills (or the capacity and desire to develop these), we will have a great time working together.
How to make your request stand out:
High-quality estimates of parcel-level land costs allow for cost-effective targeting of conservation interventions
Option 1: You have an idea
The best starting point for any inquiry is your own curiosity. If you already have a research topic that you want to tackle over the course of your graduate career, you have a great head start. Write up a short pitch (1-2 pages) that covers the essentials: why is your topic important? What is new about it? Who wants to know? Why do you want to know? How would you like to tackle it? What data, skills, and contacts do you need? What do you already have?
Of course, your pitch does not need to be perfect (that’s what your graduate studies are for), but it should convey enthusiasm and capacity. I will honor your effort by responding in very short time. If your idea is promising, we’ll find a way to fund it.
Option 2: You have advanced skills
If you already have advanced skills in economics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, or a related field from your previous degree, we have many interesting research opportunities related to current research on the cost, allocation and impact of parcel-level conservation transactions in the United States and Colombia. Very interesting, large-scale data sets are ready and waiting to be analyzed. Extra points if you have prior experience with big data, mathematical / computational optimization, or machine learning.
Your opportunity
The Department of Earth & Environment at Boston University offers a PhD in Earth & Environment with a five-year funding guarantee. Applications are usually due mid-December.
Please get in touch with Christoph Nolte (chrnolte@bu.edu) well before the application deadline with:
- a short summary of your research experience and interests
(let us know how working with our group will help you advance your career) - your curriculum vitae (which explicitly highlights your statistical, computational, and linguistic skills),
- copies of transcripts (unofficial is fine) and GRE scores (if available)
- a writing sample (send the paper you are most proud of)
We look forward to hearing from you!