NEW (8/2026): PhD positions available in the Ogle Lab
The Ecological Synthesis Lab (https://nau.edu/oglelab), directed by Dr. Kiona Ogle, at Northern Arizona University (NAU) has openings for one or more PhD positions in the areas of: (1) legacy effects of extreme climate events on carbon cycle processes and (2) environmental controls on species- and community-level vegetation dynamics. Both research areas focus on ecological systems in the arid and semi-arid western US. Students interested in area (1) would have the opportunity to work with tree-ring data from various sampling networks and/or carbon and water flux data from eddy covariance tower networks. Projects falling under this theme may explore how trees and/or ecosystems are impacted by prolonged drought, flash droughts, pluvial events, or heatwaves, with the goal of understanding the legacy effects of such events. Students interested in area (2) would work with long-term inventory and monitoring data from the National Park Service (NPS) and USGS, with a focus on identifying factors governing changes in species occurrence and abundance and potentially scaling up to evaluate drivers of community change. This project focuses on grassland and shrubland ecosystems in the western US. Interested applicants must have solid quantitative abilities, including basic training in mathematics (e.g., at least 2 semesters of calculus) and statistics (e.g., at least one introductory statistics course), possess good programming skills (e.g., R, Python, etc.). Prospectives should also possess good background knowledge in relevant fields of ecology/biology and have developed good written and oral communication skills. As part of their PhD program, students should be keenly interested in strengthening these quantitative skills and becoming proficient in Bayesian statistical methods, machine learning, and computing. Interested students should contact Dr. Ogle by email (Kiona.Ogle@nau.edu).
Graduate Students:
Join the PhD program in Ecological and Environmental Informatics (EEI) at Northern Arizona University! Students interested in pursuing a graduate degree under the direction of Dr. Kiona Ogle related to any of the research themes in the Ogle Lab are encouraged to contact Dr. Ogle via email at Kiona [DOT] Ogle [AT] nau [DOT] edu. Dr. Ogle is particularly interested in taking on students with strong quantitative backgrounds, or that have the ability and desire to develop quantitative and computing skills, and that wish to use these skills to address important questions in plant or ecosystem ecology. Students keen on integrating mathematical, simulation, or statistical modeling with empirical or experimental studies to address questions related to one of the Ogle Lab’s research themes should contact Dr. Ogle, and prospective students with compatible interests are encouraged to learn more about the graduate programs at NAU and/or to apply for graduate study through the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (see the EEI PhD program) or the Department of Biological Sciences (see the Biology PhD program).
Undergraduate Students:
The Ogle Lab is frequently looking for NAU undergraduates to help with a variety of ecology or computing related projects. Students often participate in a range of activities that involve anything from data entry to working with large databases to field work to laboratory analyses of field samples. Interested students should contact Dr. Kiona Ogle via email at Kiona [DOT] Ogle [AT] nau [DOT] edu.
