Ph.D. Research Assistantships in Interdisciplinary Forest Carbon Management Project Available

NC State’s College of Natural Resources has two Ph.D. graduate research assistantships available starting as soon as August 16, 2020. Students will work on an interdisciplinary forest carbon management project focused on the optimization of forest carbon storage and sequestration and economic implications of different carbon management strategies. These positions will be part of the Forest Carbon Management Graduate Research Project and Jordan Family Ph.D. Graduate Fellowship for Natural Resource Innovation.

The two Ph.D. research assistants will be part of a larger team that includes Dr. Tom Gower, Jordan Family Distinguished Professor for Natural Resource Innovation, Dr. Bob Abt, a forest economist faculty, one to two research undergraduates, and a programmer.

One graduate student will focus on forest carbon modeling of contrasting forest ecosystems and the second graduate student will focus on the economic implications of strategies to maximize carbon storage and sequestration.

The initial focus of the project will be the southeastern U.S. which provides an excellent opportunity to examine the implications of economic, forest management, land use trade-offs, and their interactions, implicit in alternative carbon futures.

We anticipate to do a case study that compares a dominant forest ecosystem in contrasting regions in the US (e.g. northern hardwoods in Upper Great Lakes, Douglas-fir in the PNW, and boreal forests in Canada). 

Requirements and Funding

Each successful Ph.D. must have very strong quantitative and analytical skills, strong independent work ethic, excellent communication skills and demonstrated success in group collaboration.

The two Ph.D. students must work closely together throughout the project and collaborate on peer-reviewed journal articles. Funding is available for four years for each Ph.D. student, pending satisfactory annual progress. The annual stipend will be approximately $32,000/year plus excellent benefits. 

Application Process

To apply, send the following items to Dr. Tom Gower, stgower@ncsu.edu. Please use the subject line “Jordan Distinguished Professor Ph.D. Research Assistantships.”

• CV
• Brief one-page cover letter describing why you are interested in the position
• Contact information for three potential references

NC State University is located in Raleigh NC, a city of 500,000 people and located several hours from the coast or mountains. The population of the greater Research Triangle (e.g. Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) is approximately 2,000,000, offering numerous career opportunities for partners.