The University of Vermont (UVM) is in the northeastern United States in the small but buzzing city of Burlington, between the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks. Our lab is located at the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory, which is on the shorelines of Lake Champlain within walking distance of the main campus. Students have many opportunities to collaborate and learn outside the lab, especially within the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural resources (our school within UVM) and given our close ties to fishery biologists in Vermont and other researchers throughout the Great Lakes.
I have diverse interests related to fish genetics, ecology, peoples-fish relationships, and fish stewardship. I am always happy to discuss opportunities with creative and enthusiastic undergraduate and graduate students. In general, we will develop graduate student projects in ties with the research ongoing in the lab. I am also open to other projects, provided that we have the applicable expertise! We encourage you to take a look at our research and publication page to get an idea of research research and ongoing projects.
General information
Undergraduate students: We often hire undergraduates during the summer. The best time to reach out (or check this website!) will be early during the winter semester (i.e., January – February). I also encourage undergraduate students to look into funding opportunities such as the SURF program. Finally, undergraduates can get research credits for research done with us through the honours college or research credits.
Graduate students: Although we sometimes have funded opportunities for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, we encourage students interested in graduate school to apply for independent research funding. I will always be happy to help you though these applications. These include opportunities to fund projects in Lake Champlain (e.g., the Lake Champlain Basin Program with a preproposal due in the Fall; Lake Champlain Sea Grants in Winter), in Lake Champlain and/or the Great Lakes (Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Great Lakes Fishery Trust, due in the Winter); and, with Canadian colleagues (NSERC programs). There are additional opportunities for graduate students through NSF.
Postdoc fellows: There are many opportunities to work on grants together – reach out if you are interested!
Current opportunities
- We are recruiting one PhD student (January or May 2026) to work on the relationships between Peoples and Adikameg (Lake Whitefish) in the Great Lakes. The suitable candidate will co-create knowledge with up to six Nations and is anticipated to spend a substantial amount of time in the Nations they will be partnering with. Full advertisement here.
- We are recruiting one graduate student (January, May, or September 2026) to work on evaluating the impacts of invasive species, including Tench, in lake Champlain and more generally the Great Lakes.
- We are recruiting one postdoc (May 2026) to work on developing genetic tools to manage the Ohrid Trout.