2022 EEB Phd Admissions

[anthro_eco]

Hi all EEB enthusiasts, I though we could start a thread early as our app process also starts earlier than most STEM fields as we have to get in touch with potential advisors. 

I'm broadly interested in global change biology and am looking to join a lab which works within community ecology and ecophysiology in the context of global change, so that includes climate warming, exotic species invasions, land use change etc. 

I don't exactly know which schools I'll be finally applying to yet as I'm still in talks with potential advisors and hope to keep getting in touch with more until at least mid November or so. As of now I plan on applying to UCSB, UCLA, Berkeley, UWM, UWashington, Brown, Stanford, Duke and Princeton cause I have at least one PI interested in all these places, I still need to talk to some people from some less competitive programs to possibly be on the safe side.

Would love to hear what you guys plan on doing and where yall are applying. 

Best wishes                                                                           

[sevencolors]

Hi, I’m looking to apply to EEB too! I’m preparing to take the TOEFL in October. I’m only targeting 1 uni so far and I’m not sure if I should apply to others too. 

[anthro_eco]

Hey man! we're a small group so good to see more EEB people around here. 

All the best for your TOEFL! I took mine in July.

If you're 100% confident that you're getting in that uni I'd say that's cool, otherwise you should definitely look at other places as well.

[Crucial BBQ]

On 9/26/2021 at 11:03 AM, anthro_eco said:

Hey man! we're a small group so good to see more EEB people around here. 

All the best for your TOEFL! I took mine in July.

If you're 100% confident that you're getting in that uni I'd say that's cool, otherwise you should definitely look at other places as well.

Yes, very small.  

[greendude]

Great to see a few other EEB applicants this year on Gradcafe. Would love to hear more about all of your research interests, background and graduate programs you've applied to!

Personally, I grew up in the US but undertook my undergrad studies at UQ in Aus. My predominant interests surround tropical ecology and conservation biology with a focus on integrating and advancing sampling methods (especially with camera trapping survey designs) towards understanding the functional roles of under-represented mammals (small, arboreal, cryptic).

I received one offer from NAU's T3 eco-informatics program, but awaiting responses from the other universities (Yale EEB, Washington SEFS, Rice EEB, Harvard OEB, Duke UPE, Hawaii Manoa Zoology, UC Berkeley Integrative Bio).

Cheers

[larche14]

Hi EEB folks! This is my first post here so I have no idea what I’m doing but I’ll give it my best shot! I’m Canadian and completing my undergraduate studies in Canada but am applying to PhDs in the USA and Masters in Canada.

 

Like the original poster, I’m also interested in global change ecology and ecophysiology. More specifically, I have been working on research projects here at my undergrad institution that focus on vegetation phenology in terrestrial ecosystems. my current project focusses on phenology trends in  temperate deciduous forests and tests novel methods that can be used to track phenological transitions in these ecosystems. 
 

In my graduate studies, I hope to continue to research tree/forest ecosystem structure and function, potentially switching up my research to focus on tropical forests where phenology and global change impacts are less understood. I am also interested in doing more large-spatial-scale research using remote sensing and GIS data from satellites or airborne sensors.

 

I have applied to Notre Dame Bio, Cornell EEB, and Purdue Bio, since I am interested in their PIs whose research combines plant ecology and remote sensing. I also still have to submit a few applications to Canadian schools.

 

I’d love to hear more about all of your research/research interests/application experiences so far since I love hearing about new ecology topics and also listening to people talk about their passions.

Edited December 15, 2021 by larche14

[anthro_eco]

On 12/14/2021 at 2:32 PM, greendude said:

Great to see a few other EEB applicants this year on Gradcafe. Would love to hear more about all of your research interests, background and graduate programs you've applied to!

Personally, I grew up in the US but undertook my undergrad studies at UQ in Aus. My predominant interests surround tropical ecology and conservation biology with a focus on integrating and advancing sampling methods (especially with camera trapping survey designs) towards understanding the functional roles of under-represented mammals (small, arboreal, cryptic).

I received one offer from NAU's T3 eco-informatics program, but awaiting responses from the other universities (Yale EEB, Washington SEFS, Rice EEB, Harvard OEB, Duke UPE, Hawaii Manoa Zoology, UC Berkeley Integrative Bio).

Cheers

Hi!! So glad to meet EEB people here, gradcafe can sometime feel like an ocean of MolBio and BioMed peeps. I'm from India and will be graduating with a masters in Biology in the spring. India is dreadful when it comes to the intellectual diversity in Ecology labs so I was sort of always boxed into behavioral ecology as the only ecology lab at my uni did that. But I still feel fortunate that all my external research experiences, though they dealt with beahvior and physiology, it was at least in the context of global change. 

For my PhD I will be working on the intersection of community ecology and biogeography to better forecast future forest distributions and patterns of diversity. Though I'm still figuring out the logistics of the question I have asked, I'm happy that my prospective PIs are excited about the abstract concept I presented. 

I think the programs I'm applying to should be in my signature, if not, I'll add them shortly. So far I have a verbal confirmation from my PI at Brown and am also quite hopeful about Stanford. 

All the best and I hope we all get into our top choices!!

[bug_genomics]

Hey everybody, 

I am also applying to EEB programs this cycle I am currently in a Canadian MSc program and have decided to apply to the following places for Fall 2022 PhD admissions:

University of British Columbia - Zoology
Richard Gilder Graduate School (RGGS) - Comparative Biology
Columbia - E3B (for the same lab as RGGS)
CUNY - Biology/EEB (for the same lab as RGGS)
Yale - EEB - Rejected

The early Yale rejection wasn't a huge surprise as the PI there told me that each lab gets funding for a PhD student every other year and he got one last year, but he encouraged me to apply anyway just in case. Feels a bit like a waste of money now as I had thought I might still get an interview, but so be it ! Crossing my fingers for the rest

Also! I had quite a few meetings with potential PIs at institutions I ended up not applying to. But if any future applicants are curious about what I found out, I am happy to share. In addition to the above schools, I had meetings with PIs and their labs at McGill, UChicago, Princeton, and Cambridge.

Edited December 24, 2021 by bug_genomics

[lepidopterista]

Hello! 

It's kinda late in the cycle but I thought I'd share some of the programs I've applied to and how they're proceeding with the interview process. Currently finishing my undergrad at a mid-level state school and focused on butterfly behavioral/wing-patterning genetics labs. Here are the programs I applied to for Fall 2022: 

• UChicago - EEB - no word on interviews yet
• Cornell - EEB - interviews conducted via Zoom on January 27th & 28th, will pay for admitted students to visit 
• UMichigan - EEB - interviews conducted via Zoom on February 3rd & 4th, will pay for admitted students to visit
• UC Irvine - EEB - interviews conducted via Zoom from January 24-28 (you schedule individual meetings with faculty with the help of your potential PI)

(I also applied to UC San Diego's CDB PhD program and UFlorida's Entomology PhD program and haven't gotten any word back on the recruitment process yet.) 

If anyone has any advice on the interview process or where to get more info on it I'd love to hear!

[aranilah]

Does anyone know when UT Austin conducts their EEB interviews?

[mudjemkins]

Has anyone heard back from either Stanford Biology Eco/Evo track or from UChicago Ecology & Evolution? 

[larche14]

On 1/7/2022 at 1:32 PM, lepidopterista said:

Hello! 

It's kinda late in the cycle but I thought I'd share some of the programs I've applied to and how they're proceeding with the interview process. Currently finishing my undergrad at a mid-level state school and focused on butterfly behavioral/wing-patterning genetics labs. Here are the programs I applied to for Fall 2022: 

• UChicago - EEB - no word on interviews yet
• Cornell - EEB - interviews conducted via Zoom on January 27th & 28th, will pay for admitted students to visit 
• UMichigan - EEB - interviews conducted via Zoom on February 3rd & 4th, will pay for admitted students to visit
• UC Irvine - EEB - interviews conducted via Zoom from January 24-28 (you schedule individual meetings with faculty with the help of your potential PI)

(I also applied to UC San Diego's CDB PhD program and UFlorida's Entomology PhD program and haven't gotten any word back on the recruitment process yet.) 

If anyone has any advice on the interview process or where to get more info on it I'd love to hear!

Hi! I’m also attending the Cornell interview weekend and don’t know anyone else who is! Congrats on all your interviews so far. I’ve had one online interview day with Notre Dame so far and it was honestly pretty fun and not too stressful.

 

Did you get another email with more info once you responded to the Cornell email invitation saying you would attend?

[lepidopterista]

2 hours ago, larche14 said:

Hi! I’m also attending the Cornell interview weekend and don’t know anyone else who is! Congrats on all your interviews so far. I’ve had one online interview day with Notre Dame so far and it was honestly pretty fun and not too stressful.

 

Did you get another email with more info once you responded to the Cornell email invitation saying you would attend?

I'm glad your Notre Dame interview went well! And it's nice to meet someone else who is going to be at the interview weekend! I contacted one of the graduate coordinators and she said that they would send out an email by the end of the week (this was on Thursday). I haven't gotten any updates, but I'm guessing they'll send out an email early next week with more information and the link to the event. 

[bug_genomics]

On 1/7/2022 at 1:32 PM, lepidopterista said:

Hello! 

It's kinda late in the cycle but I thought I'd share some of the programs I've applied to and how they're proceeding with the interview process. Currently finishing my undergrad at a mid-level state school and focused on butterfly behavioral/wing-patterning genetics labs. Here are the programs I applied to for Fall 2022: 

• UChicago - EEB - no word on interviews yet
• Cornell - EEB - interviews conducted via Zoom on January 27th & 28th, will pay for admitted students to visit 

Yay another bug person! I am sure I know the labs you are targeting at UChicago and Cornell  and I will cross my fingers for you.

[sevencolors]

On 1/8/2022 at 10:50 PM, aranilah said:

Does anyone know when UT Austin conducts their EEB interviews?

Waaaaah I'm also waiting for UT Austin. 

[lepidopterista]

On 1/8/2022 at 10:23 AM, mudjemkins said:

Has anyone heard back from either Stanford Biology Eco/Evo track or from UChicago Ecology & Evolution? 

Still no word from UChicago on my end. 

[larche14]

On 1/9/2022 at 12:28 AM, lepidopterista said:

I'm glad your Notre Dame interview went well! And it's nice to meet someone else who is going to be at the interview weekend! I contacted one of the graduate coordinators and she said that they would send out an email by the end of the week (this was on Thursday). I haven't gotten any updates, but I'm guessing they'll send out an email early next week with more information and the link to the event. 

Thank you so much for the response! I’m still stressing but not quite as much anymore?

[aranilah]

On 1/11/2022 at 10:08 AM, sevencolors said:

Waaaaah I'm also waiting for UT Austin. 

I emailed the graduate coordinator regarding the timeline, I will update as soon as I get a reply!

[Rewildr]

Hey all!

I am a bit late to join, but am also anxiously waiting to hear from schools. I have a double undergrad degree from a US state school and just finished a masters in Biodiversity Conservation at Oxford. I applied to 5 PhD programs and all were a bit of reach so my hopes are low, but I am stressed none the less.

The 5 I have applied to, but have not heard from are

EEB at Princeton

OEB at Harvard

Biology at Stanford

The School for the Environment at Yale

and ESPM at UC Berkeley

Not sure if anyone has heard anything from these schools yet, but would love to know if you have!

[aranilah]

Note for UT Austin EEB applicants : The UT Austin coordinator stated that they have finished reviewing the applications and that applicants will be emailed regarding an online interview "within the next few weeks." 

[aranilah]

On 1/12/2022 at 12:49 PM, aranilah said:

I emailed the graduate coordinator regarding the timeline, I will update as soon as I get a reply!

Note for UT Austin EEB applicants : The UT Austin coordinator stated that they have finished reviewing the applications and that applicants will be emailed regarding an online interview "within the next few weeks." 

[honeymoow]

My partner just received notification of an interview for the E3B PhD at Columbia, so I assume they've sent all those out.

[anthro_eco]

On 1/13/2022 at 10:33 PM, Rewildr said:

Hey all!

I am a bit late to join, but am also anxiously waiting to hear from schools. I have a double undergrad degree from a US state school and just finished a masters in Biodiversity Conservation at Oxford. I applied to 5 PhD programs and all were a bit of reach so my hopes are low, but I am stressed none the less.

The 5 I have applied to, but have not heard from are

EEB at Princeton

OEB at Harvard

Biology at Stanford

The School for the Environment at Yale

and ESPM at UC Berkeley

Not sure if anyone has heard anything from these schools yet, but would love to know if you have!

Heard from my PoI at Stanford yesterday, he told me I wasn't invited for the interviews so I'm going to assume that all invites have already been sent out. I too am waiting to hear back from Harvard and Princeton.

[bug_genomics]

On 12/23/2021 at 8:28 PM, bug_genomics said:

Hey everybody, 

I am also applying to EEB programs this cycle I am currently in a Canadian MSc program and have decided to apply to the following places for Fall 2022 PhD admissions:

University of British Columbia - Zoology
Richard Gilder Graduate School (RGGS) - Comparative Biology - Interview
Columbia - E3B (for the same lab as RGGS) - Interview
CUNY - Biology/EEB (for the same lab as RGGS)
Yale - EEB - Rejected

The early Yale rejection wasn't a huge surprise as the PI there told me that each lab gets funding for a PhD student every other year and he got one last year, but he encouraged me to apply anyway just in case. Feels a bit like a waste of money now as I had thought I might still get an interview, but so be it ! Crossing my fingers for the rest

Also! I had quite a few meetings with potential PIs at institutions I ended up not applying to. But if any future applicants are curious about what I found out, I am happy to share. In addition to the above schools, I had meetings with PIs and their labs at McGill, UChicago, Princeton, and Cambridge.

Got two interview invites yesterday! For Columbia E3B and RGGS Comparative Biology

[Rewildr]

I had emailed Stanford Biosciences admissions and just heard back that they are still sorting out interviews and rejections and sending them as they go through so I'll use that as a reason to hold onto a little bit of hope.