Graduate Research Opportunities

I’m always happy to chat about research opportunities for students with interests in terrestrial hydrology and/or remote sensing. Positions are available for students at the PhD or MSc level. Several funded positions are typically available to students interested in the applied use of GIS and remote sensing for observation of soil moisture (both passive and active sensors), soil freeze thaw processes, and agricultural land management.  All projects provide excellent opportunities for combining field work, laboratory and computer analysis.  We have field sites in the arctic, within boreal forests, and in agricultural regions.  Students with backgrounds in Physical Geography or Geomatics, Physical Sciences, Engineering or Computer Sciences are encouraged to contact me to discuss available projects and funding opportunities.

I am always excited to speak with enthusiastic scholars looking to pursue potential graduate (MSc) or senior undergraduate research opportunities. In particular, individuals driven by curiosity and a keen sense for understanding the processes that shape the world around us through a geoscience lens. Our work looks at how fluvial geomorphology and ecohydrology intersect within the context of disturbed systems (e.g., land use land change, climate variability, pre & post disasters or extreme events). Opportunities for Fall 2024 include sediment budget based on sediment cores, ice and winter conditions and their impact on channel morphodynamics, and tool development to track fluvial geomorphic changes in restored channels. Successful applicants will receive funding following our department’s graduate financial support policy. Funds for fieldwork, conference attendance and other opportunities for professional development are also available and will be allocated based on the research projects. Students with strong backgrounds & interest in Physical Geography, Physical and Environmental Sciences are encouraged to contact me to discuss available projects and funding.

My research is concerned with the remote sensing of ecosystem change using optical and SAR satellite data. I am not recruiting any additional graduate students in the Fall 2024 semester. However, I am always keen to discuss future opportunities with interested prospective students.

Political Ecology, Marine Conservation, Ocean Governance, and Island Futures

I welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students (MA or PhD) who share my research interests in marine conservation governance, “blue economy” policies and impacts, and/or the science-policy interface in the context of conservation and environmental governance, particularly in islands. Please contact me directly to discuss opportunities; inquiries should include a CV/resume and brief statement of your interests.

I am looking for undergraduate/graduate research assistants and post-doctoral fellows to join my team. We are launching a research program to develop an Indigenous value-based environmental health risk assessment approach and I am interested in students who want to or have worked with Indigenous communities. I am happy to chat with you about your research interests if you have strong skills in Indigenous methods, statistics, ArcGIS StoryMaps, or qualitative methods, and strong software skills. The communities I am working with right now are in southern Ontario and northern Alberta. Please feel free to contact me to discuss available projects and funding opportunities.

I am a member of the Indigenous Mentorship Network of Ontario (https://imnp.uwo.ca/) and the Wabanaki-Labrador Indigenous Health Research Network (http://wabanaki-labradornetwork.ca/).

GIS, Geomorphometry, LiDAR Remote Sensing, Spatial Analysis, Hydrology

Prof. John Lindsay is looking for 1-2 new Masters students to join the Geomorphometry and Hydrogeomatics Research Group (GHRG) in Fall 2020. These fully-funded students will take on a research project related to the broad range of geomorphometry (digital terrain analysis), spatial hydrology, and LiDAR remote sensing topics actively studied within the GHRG. Specifically, Prof. Lindsay is looking for students to work on projects related to improving information extracted from the newly acquired Ontario LiDAR topographic data sets. Application areas include predictive soils mapping, soil organic carbon, and the study of accessibility in urban areas. Like all graduate members of the GHRG, the incoming students will be involved in the application and development of novel techniques for handling these data in spatial hydrological applications. GHRG students are provided advanced training in GIS and geomatics more broadly and have opportunity to gain experience with terrain mapping equipment, LiDAR data, and spatial analysis software (GIS and remote sensing). Interested applicants are encouraged to email Prof. Lindsay (jlindsay@uoguelph.ca) with a statement of interest and experience and an unofficial transcript.

Faisal welcomes students who are interested in pursuing graduate opportunities in his People, Plants and Policy lab to contact him by email (fmoola@uoguelph.ca). The 3P lab presents interdisciplinary opportunities for students to pursue Masters and PhD degrees focused on conservation policy and practice, forest management, plant ecology (at the species and community level) and ethnobotany in partnership with Indigenous Peoples. Faisal is particularly interested in students with strong academic backgrounds, who are comfortable with field work and are interested in scholarly collaboration and writing.

I’m excited to hear from prospective grad students who are curious about the role data technologies play in environmental governance. Types of projects we might collaborate on include:

• Evaluating opportunities for technologies such as AI and GIS in nature conservation and agri-environmental stewardship
• Analyzing publicly-available climate, conservation, and environmental governance datasets

I am also looking for students to research the design of environmental governance datasets like Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory and to experiment in alternative uses of them. This research would inform ongoing policy discussions, including those around Canada's Bill C-226 and the US's Justice40 initiative, both of which seek to develop data infrastructures for advancing environmental justice. Students would have the opportunity to collaborate with the Environmental and Data Governance Initiative.

Prospective students should be interested in conducting interviews, document analysis, and/or surveys for their research, as well as working critically with data technologies themselves. I can offer training in communication skills - including mapping, data visualization, and public writing - and in the scholarly fields of political ecology, science and technology studies, and digital geographies. Former graduate students have gone on to work in academia and in the conservation and environmental NGO sectors. 

I encourage interested candidates to email me at enost@uoguelph.ca with a brief statement of interest, an unofficial transcript, and a writing/research sample.

Waste and Society

Although I am not currently recruiting students for Fall 2024, an opportunity may become available to research Canadian municipal food waste reduction initiatives as a Masters (MA) project. Please reach out in early 2024 to see if this position has become available. I would consider applications from students who have experience with either food systems or waste systems in Canada. 

Conservation through Reconciliation

As PI of the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership, I am interested in speaking with exceptional prospective MA or PhD students interested in advancing Indigenous conservation governance in Canada. I am particularly interested in speaking with students who can work at the community level to help advance the conceptualization and practice of decolonized conservation or those who want to engage with advancing reconciliation within existing protected areas. Visit the website to see what the partnership has been up to and whether your interests are a good fit.