Master’s and PhD Students

I am recruiting graduate students interested in ecosystem ecology, microbiomes, conservation biology, and related fields. Most of the funding below is doctoral; where a source is open to master’s students it says so.

Before anything else: apply to a graduate programme, not to me. I take students principally through the UF Department of Biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and for some projects through the UF Genetics Institute’s Genetics and Genomics PhD programme, whose deadline is 1 December. I do not take students through CALS. Email me first and I will tell you which route fits your project, then apply there. Contacting me does not substitute for the application.

Fellowship deadlines at a glance

These are the windows fellowships usually fall in, checked July 2026. Confirm the actual date on the linked page.

When Fellowship Who Rough amount
Rolling Rufford Small Grants MSc/PhD, project in Kenya or South Africa Up to about £7,000
Late Aug Explorers Club Pathfinder Grad students doing fieldwork $2,500 to $5,000
Early Sep Welder Wildlife Fellowship Grad students at accredited US institutions About $24,000 to $26,400/yr
Mid Sep AAUW International Fellowship Women who are not US citizens or PRs $20,000 to $25,000
Mid Sep Fogarty Global Health Fellowship US citizens and PRs (predoctoral) $7,500 research funding
Early Oct Fulbright US Student Program US citizens, no PhD yet Stipend, travel, health
1 Oct and 15 Mar Sigma Xi Grants in Aid Any grad researcher $500 to $5,000
Late Oct Hertz Fellowship US citizens and PRs Up to $250,000 total
Late Oct HHMI Gilliam PhD years 2 to 3, with adviser, HHMI-eligible institution $65,000/yr
Late Oct Soros Fellowship US immigration status required; age 30 or under Up to $90,000
Late Oct NDSEG US citizens and nationals; PRs not eligible $43,200/yr plus tuition
Early Nov NSF GRFP US citizens and PRs; entering, or year 1 only $37,000 plus $16,000/yr
Mid Nov APS Lewis and Clark Doctoral fieldwork About $5,400
May and Nov DOE SCGSR US citizens and PRs Up to $3,600/month
Dec UF Biology department awards UF Biology grad students $300 to $4,000
Late Dec GCA Ecological Restoration US citizens and PRs $8,000/yr
Mid Jan McKnight Doctoral Fellowship African American or Hispanic US citizens; entering Stipend plus tuition
Apr, Aug, Dec NIH F31 US citizens, nationals, PRs $29,364/yr
Apr USDA NIFA AFRI Predoctoral US citizens and PRs Up to $180,000
Nov to May UF Scholarship Universe Admitted UF students Varies
Jun (LOI) Simons Ecology and Evolution Students entering a US PhD $265,800 total
Opens Sep, close TBA Switzer Fellowship US citizens, PRs, DACA, refugee/asylee; post-quals $17,000
Varies UF Research Abroad for Doctoral Students Post-candidacy, research abroad Up to $5,000
Through your unit Grinter Fellowship Incoming PhD students $2,000 to $4,000

If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident

Most US federal fellowships are closed to you: GRFP, SCGSR, NIH F31, USDA AFRI, and Fulbright US Student all require citizenship or permanent residency, and NDSEG requires citizenship even of permanent residents. Several non-federal awards are also citizenship-restricted: McKnight, Hertz, GCA, and Switzer.

Open to you, and listed below: AAUW International Fellowships, Rufford Small Grants, Explorers Club, Sigma Xi, APS Lewis and Clark, Welder Wildlife, UF Research Abroad, and the UF Biology department awards once you are enrolled. Fogarty is open to Kenyan nationals at the postdoctoral level only.

A departmental assistantship is the usual route. Terms, including the hours each FTE level corresponds to, are in the Laboratory Code of Conduct.

Research Focus Areas

  • Ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry
  • Microbial ecology and metagenomics
  • Wildlife conservation and zoogeochemistry
  • Environmental DNA and molecular ecology
  • Water quality monitoring and aquatic ecosystems
  • Conservation genomics and community ecology

We work in Kenya and South Africa, in Florida, and in other systems, combining field ecology with laboratory automation, nanopore sequencing, and bioinformatics.

If your project involves fieldwork in Kenya, read the International Research Partnership Policy before you build a timeline. Research licensing, access permits, and export agreements run on annual cycles and are not transferable between people.

How to Contact Me

Subject line: “Prospective Graduate Student - your name”

Please include:

  1. A one-page cover letter on your research interests, career goals, and why this lab
  2. Your CV, including publications or research experience
  3. One paragraph on a project or area you would like to pursue

I read enquiries personally and may not reply to all of them. Admission on a Teaching Assistantship is possible.

Letters: ask me at least three weeks before the deadline, and send your draft and the prompt with the request.

Fellowships

Before you enroll

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Award: $37,000/yr stipend plus $16,000/yr cost-of-education, 3 years within a 5-year window. Deadline: Early November, staggered by field. Life Sciences falls a few days before the others. Eligibility: US citizens, nationals, and permanent residents. You must not have completed more than one academic year of graduate study, so second-year students are not eligible.

As of July 2026 the FY2027 solicitation had not been posted. Check the programme page from late summer.

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

Award: $265,800 total over 3 to 5 years, including a $50,000/yr stipend. Deadline: Letter of intent, late June, with a full proposal the following spring. Eligibility: Students entering a US PhD programme, not students already enrolled.

McKnight Doctoral Fellowship

Award: Stipend plus tuition. FEF’s pages give conflicting figures, so confirm with the programme. Deadline: Mid January. FEF separately requires that you hold an admission offer from a participating PhD programme by late February. Eligibility: African American or Hispanic US citizens holding a bachelor’s degree. Students already enrolled in a doctoral programme are not eligible.

Grinter Fellowship (UF)

A recruitment award for incoming students, not dissertation support. $2,000 to $4,000, nominated through your academic unit.

Years 1 to 2

NDSEG Fellowship

Award: Full tuition and required fees, $43,200/yr, health insurance up to $1,600/yr, and up to $5,000 professional travel. Deadline: Late October. Eligibility: US citizens, US dual citizens, and US nationals. Permanent residents are not eligible.

Hertz Foundation Fellowship

Award: Up to $250,000 over as much as 5 years. One option is a $38,000 nine-month stipend; another pairs a higher stipend during the Hertz-funded period with a supplement while another major fellowship pays. The split depends on the other award. Deadline: Late October. Eligibility: US citizens and permanent residents.

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans

Award: Up to $90,000 over 2 years. Deadline: Late October. Eligibility: You must already hold US citizenship, permanent residency, or DACA status, or be the US-born child of immigrants. Applying from outside the US does not qualify. Age 30 or under at the deadline, which the programme publishes as a hard cut-off. You cannot have begun your third year of graduate study.

Years 2 and beyond

HHMI Gilliam Fellowships

Award: $65,000/yr for up to 3 years. Deadline: Late October. Eligibility: Applications come from a pair, a PhD student in year 2 or 3 and their faculty adviser, each contributing materials. Your institution must be on HHMI’s eligible list; confirm UF’s status with the programme before starting.

NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship

Award: $29,364/yr predoctoral stipend, plus tuition and institutional allowances. Up to 5 years aggregate. Deadlines: 8 April, 8 August, 8 December for new applications. Resubmission dates differ; check the announcement. Eligibility: US citizens, nationals, or permanent residents.

F31 projects require a health or environmental-health framing.

Switzer Environmental Fellowship

Award: $17,000. Deadline: Applications open in September; the close date is not yet published. Eligibility: US citizenship, permanent residency, DACA, or refugee/asylee status. PhD candidates must have passed qualifying exams. From the 2027 cycle the fellowship is open nationally, having previously been limited to New England and California.

USDA NIFA AFRI Predoctoral Fellowship

Award: Up to $180,000 total over 36 months. Deadline: April. Eligibility: US citizens and permanent residents.

DOE SCGSR

Award: Up to $3,600/month in residence at a DOE laboratory, plus up to $3,000 travel. This is a residency rather than portable support. Deadline: Two cycles a year, roughly May and November. Eligibility: US citizens and permanent residents.

Fieldwork and travel, any year

Rufford Small Grants

Award: First grant up to £7,000, rising across later grants. Deadline: Rolling, one application per twelve months. Eligibility: MSc and PhD students, or within 3 years of graduating. Kenya and South Africa are both eligible countries. Applicants based in advanced economies are considered only where the work is high conservation priority and builds local capacity.

Explorers Club Pathfinder Grant

Award: $2,500 to $5,000 typical. Deadline: Late August. Eligibility: Graduate and post-graduate students doing fieldwork. No citizenship restriction stated.

Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research

Award: $500 to $5,000 for graduate members; non-members capped at $1,000. Deadlines: 15 March and 1 October.

APS Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research

Award: Up to about $5,400 for doctoral fieldwork. Deadline: Mid November, with letters of support a few days earlier.

UF Research Abroad for Doctoral Students

Award: Up to $5,000 for travel and travel-related costs. Deadline: The posted date is often behind; email UFIC to confirm the current cycle. Eligibility: PhD students who have advanced to candidacy, research abroad. No citizenship restriction stated.

Fulbright US Student Program

Award: Living stipend, health benefits, round-trip airfare, roughly 140 countries. Deadline: Early October nationally. UF runs a campus committee process that adds weeks, so start in the summer. Eligibility: US citizens holding a bachelor’s, no PhD yet.

Fogarty Global Health Fellowship

Award: $7,500 research funding for US pre-doctoral fellows, over a 12-month placement. Deadline: Mid September. Eligibility: At the predoctoral level, US citizens and permanent residents only. Nationals of Kenya and other LMICs are eligible at the postdoctoral level. Kenyan sites include the University of Nairobi, KEMRI, and Moi University.

Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration

Award: $8,000/yr. Deadline: Late December. Eligibility: Graduate students who are US citizens or permanent residents.

Welder Wildlife Foundation Graduate Fellowship

Award: About $24,000/yr for MSc and $26,400/yr for PhD, plus on-site housing, office space, and laboratory facilities. Deadline: Early September.

Open to non-US citizens

AAUW International Fellowships

Award: $20,000 for master’s, $25,000 for doctoral study. Deadline: Mid September. Eligibility: Women who are not US citizens, permanent residents, or green-card applicants. STEM fields, 3.5 GPA.

UF awards

UF FLAS Fellowships, African languages

Award: Academic year $20,000 plus tuition and fees. Summer $2,500 plus up to $5,000 tuition. Deadline: February. Eligibility: US citizen or permanent resident, enrolled or admitted at UF. Languages include Swahili and Zulu. Swahili is spoken at our Kenya field sites.

UF department awards

The Biology graduate awards page lists more than a dozen internal awards, usually with December deadlines. These include:

  • Dr. Michael May Graduate Student Fellowship, dissertation research
  • H. Jane Brockmann Graduate Research Award, field research
  • Carrie Lynn Yoder Memorial Scholarship, plant ecology
  • Frank Maturo Excellence Fund
  • Mildred Mason Griffith Botany Award
  • Brian Riewald Memorial Fund Research Grant
  • Davis Graduate Fellowship in Botany

Amounts range from a few hundred dollars to $4,000 and change year to year.

No longer accepting applications

  • Ford Foundation Fellowships. The programme is winding down; 2023 was the last full cohort.
  • EPA STAR Graduate Fellowships. Ended in 2015.

Tips

  1. Start a year ahead. GRFP, NDSEG, Soros, Gilliam, and Hertz all fall between late October and mid November.

Programme information

Sources last verified July 2026. Confirm every deadline against the linked page.