Environmental Soil Physics - Graduate Research Assistantships
Environmental Soil Physics Home
Department of Plants, Soils and Climate
The following M.S./Ph.D. research assistantships are available in Environmental Soil Physics:
1) Quantifying Soil Evaporation Rates with High Resolution Thermal Imaging and Heat Flux Measurements (M.S.)
2) Novel Streaming Potential and Thermal Sensor Techniques for Monitoring Water and Nutrient Fluxes in the Vadose Zone (Ph.D.)
We invite applications for Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA; M.S. or Ph.D. level) from students interested in application of novel, subsurface heat-pulse or streaming potential techniques for quantification of water vapor or liquid water fluxes in porous media.
1) The goals of the M.S. project are to develop and apply heat pulse probe measurement techniques to investigate correlations between thermal surface footprints, physical and hydraulic soil properties, atmospheric conditions, and transient evaporative fluxes from soils and to expand and scale recently developed physical pore and sample-scale evaporation models. Evaporation is a key process for water exchange between soil and the atmosphere and an extremely important, yet often missing component of the water balance.
2) Soil water flux is also an important process in soils but remains a challenge to measure. The goal of this Ph.D. research project is to develop novel water flux assessment techniques relying on a heat flux method in combination with streaming potential measurements. The graduate student will be involved in deployment of laboratory and field instruments, data collection and analysis as well as modeling of flow processes.
Willingness to work in the field, good mathematics or physics background and excellent computational skills are required. Some knowledge with environmental sensors and data acquisition systems is advantageous. The graduate student will have the opportunity to work with collaborators at ETH Zürich (Dani Or) and The University of Arizona (Markus Tuller).
Applications should include: (1) a statement of interests and goals, (2) a CV with copies of transcripts and GRE scores (include TOEFL/IELTS if applicable), and (3) names and contact information for references. Applications and information requests should be directed (preferably via email) to Scott B. Jones (scott.jones@usu.edu), 4820 Old Main Hill, Department of Plants, Soils and Climate, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-4820; Phone: 435-797-2175).
The assistantship includes monthly salary, waiver of out-of-state tuition; full remission of in-state tuition for Ph.D. students; and health insurance benefits. Successful candidates may earn their degree in Soil Science, Ecology or Biological Engineering and will apply to the USU Graduate School at http://www.usu.edu/graduateschool.