Prospective Graduate Students

So you’re thinking about pursing graduate school in my group at New Mexico Tech… welcome! If you are considering applying to the Masters or Doctoral programs at Tech to work with me, here is some information to help you in the process:

Research

Graduate students working with me are expected to perform cutting edge geophysics research as a component of earning their degree. Please take a look at my research page to get a sense of what I work on and see where you might fit in. Depending on a graduate student’s particular source of funding, their research with me will not necessarily have to fall in one of the boxes on that page and I look forward to working with students with a variety of different backgrounds!

Funding

There are a number of ways to fund the costs of a graduate education, including the cost of tuition and stipends for covering student living expenses. These include external grant funding funding acquired by the advisor, internal department funding from Teaching Assistantships and scholarships, and student-derived funding sources such as internships, external fellowships and/or independent funding through sources like the National Science Foundation’s GRFP, the Department of Defense’s NDSEG and the National Academies Ford Foundation Fellowships (just to name a few). There are many nearby geophysics-related institutions that have helped students fund all or some of their degrees including Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the EarthScope Primary Instrument Center, among others. It is worth noting that the amount provided for living stipends can vary substantially depending on the source of funding. If you do not require funding to attend, there are also options for paying out of pocket for tuition and/or completing your degree on a part-time basis.

While I am committed to doing my best to secure funding for any student I accept, funding for the duration of a graduate degree is not guaranteed at New Mexico Tech and my personal ability to financially support students is dependent on the success of external grant awards that I submit. However, even in the absence of external grant funding, students are generally able to make it through their degrees fully funded through use of student-derived sources.

Who is selected?

Up-to-date information about applying to the graduate school at New Mexico Tech, including application costs, deadlines and requirements, can be found here. Applications to the Earth and Environmental Science department will be reviewed and evaluated within the department, with factors such as grades, communication skills, research experience and letters of recommendation being taken into consideration to assess an applicant’s likelihood of success in the graduate program at Tech. Keep in mind that we look through a significant number of applications each year, so I recommend taking steps to differentiate your application. If you are specifically looking to work with me, it helps to reach out and introduce yourself with your background and research interests, describe in your application how your research interests are aligned with mine and mention my name in the application. In the end, selection of students can be highly dependent on the availability of known funding. Typically, I am only able to admit 0-2 students under my supervision in any given year.

Working in my group

My research group is founded on the values of inclusivity, equity, respect, integrity and a commitment to learning, as each of these is fundamental to academic success and maintaining a healthy research and learning environment. As such, I expect every student and researcher in my group to uphold these values. In return, I am committed to the well being and success of everyone I work with. My intention is that during their time working with me, every student will develop critical scientific skills in effective science communication, problem solving, advanced computation, teaching, community engagement and scientific best practice, establish a fundamental background in global tectonics, geophysics and seismology, expand their scientific network of peers, collaborators and mentors and progress toward their individual career goals, all while working on exciting scientific problems!

Other things to know

New Mexico Tech is located in the small city of Socorro, New Mexico. While Socorro is a great place to live with a vibrant community and unrivaled access to the outdoors, it is also a very small city (~8,500 residents) which means that some resources are not readily accessible without driving to nearby (~1 hour drive) Albuquerque. Another important thing to keep in mind is that New Mexico Tech does not currently provide health insurance to graduate students. Students instead have the option to pay for marketplace health insurance with their stipends. If this is a concern for you, I encourage you to reach out to current Tech graduate students to ask how they handle health care during their time here so you can make sure it will be navigable for you.