Information for Prospective Students, Postdocs, and Technicians

For prospective students:

The Division of Coastal Sciences offers both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Additional information on the graduate programs can be found here. Students in these programs are typically funded on research grants (research assistantships), external fellowships, or departmental fellowships (see below). Specific assistantantship opportunities will be posted here when available, although I encourage interested students to contact me at any time to discuss potential opportunities. If a grant-funded assistantship is not available, students will be encouraged to apply for an external fellowship (e.g., NSF Graduate Research Fellowships). Interested applicants should contact me well in advance of the application deadlines.

Open Ph.D. Assistantship: Understanding Drivers of Change in Seagrass Ecosystems to Inform Management of Critical Habitats in the Gulf Islands National Seashore

We seek a highly motivated student to fill a funded Ph.D. assistantship at The University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, MS. The selected student will be co-advised by Dr. Zachary Darnell and Dr. Kelly Darnell. This assistantship will begin in Summer 2026 (exact date depending on the availability of the selected student). The assistantship will be centered on a recently funded project to identify and monitor long-term trends and variability in seagrass-dominated ecosystems in the Gulf Islands National Seashore and identify drivers of change in biodiversity and productivity of these systems to address knowledge gaps and uncertainties prioritized by resource managers. The project will involve substantial field sampling for seagrass and seagrass-associated nekton across the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida and Mississippi, as well as laboratory sample processing and analysis of existing long-term datasets. Experience working in seagrass beds and familiarity with coastal nekton communities is preferred but not required. This is a collaborative project with researchers at multiple academic institutions and stakeholders from multiple agencies including the National Park Service. For more information, click here.

Ph.D. Fellowship Opportunity: Coastal Sciences Doctoral Fellowship

The Division of Coastal Sciences of The University of Southern Mississippi School of Ocean Science and Engineering is pleased to announce the availability of graduate fellowships to prospective students seeking a Ph.D. degree. These fellowships are awarded competitively and are intended to support the recruitment of graduate students in coastal and marine science who demonstrate scholarly promise. As these fellowships are not tied to specific research grants, there is substantial flexibility in research focus. Interested students must identify a faculty advisor prior to applying. The application deadline for Fall 2026 admission is January 15, 2026. We encourage prospective Ph.D. students interested in crustacean biology, ecology, and behavior to contact Dr. Zack Darnell to discuss this opportunity well in advance of the deadline. More information on this fellowship opportunity can be found here.

For prospective postdocs:

Prospective postdoctoral researchers should contact me to discuss funding opportunities