I am always happy to hear about shared interests
and inquiries about joining the lab. I will consider
taking new students in the future, based on a
combination of good grades, GREs, recommendations,
and a clear ability to communicate both verbally and orally.
Some of the projects I am interested in pursuing now or in
the future are wetland and terrestrial restoration and
suitability for herps, headstarting and repatriation of herps,
urban river ecology, and habitat modeling. I do mostly herps,
but am open to anything.
Acceptance at Purdue Fort Wayne is not too hard. The rub is financial
support, and the competition for Graduate Assistantships is
substantial. I won't likely accept new students into my lab
unless some sort of assistantship is identified. If I get a
grant that has money for a Research Assistant and the person
is interested in that project, then great. RAs are otherwise
rare. Mostly support comes in the form of Teaching Assistantships
in the department. These are awarded based on grades, scores and
such, plus a dash of luck (turnover).
Working in the K-Team Lab is another thing to discuss. I am a nice
guy, and want to do a good job as a supervisor, and I think I do all
right. But I do have a lot going on, and also qualify as an
absent-minded professor. Basically what I am getting at is that a
person has to be prepared for that and be proactive about getting
help and bugging me as necessary. The lab group must also help each
other as well. I want folks who are independent, but not loners.
These things said, I think being a student here is a great opportunity.
Students leaving here after finishing have been very competitive for
jobs and PhD programs. And we do neat things. Thanks again for your
interest - stay in touch, and consider visiting!