Letter to Prospective Graduate Students & Post-doctoral Fellows:
Thanks for your interest in our research and in joining the Baum Lab!
Mentoring graduate students and post-doctoral fellows is an integral component of my research program, and an important opportunity for me to help you to discover your true research interests and mature into an independent scientist. I aim to produce world class scientists and conservation leaders with excellent critical-thinking, quantitative, oral and written skills. I will invest a significant amount of time and energy in helping you to develop your research project, from the initial ideas and planning, through to statistical analyses, manuscript writing, conference presentations and outreach. I strive to create a stimulating and supportive research environment, providing my lab members with the time, space, resources and opportunities for them to succeed. Members of the Baum Lab are fortunate to work in our collaborative research environment shared with the Juanes lab, as well as our new molecular lab.
I have high expectations of my team members and I am highly selective about the people I accept into my lab. I expect you to be fully committed to your research, to be highly intelligent, curious, motivated and hard-working, to push through the tough times when they come, and to take ownership of your project, running hard with the ideas and opportunities with which I provide you. I ask that you be a good lab citizen, helping me to develop a productive, supportive, and collaborative research group, and contributing to academic life in the Biology Department and in the broader ecology community at UVic. I also expect lab members to contribute to society's understanding of ocean conservation and science in general through outreach activities. Grad school and post-doctoral research involve a lot of hard work, but should also be fun and rewarding experiences. UVic is a great university, enjoying a resurgence in ecology, and Victoria (which is situated on stunningly beautiful Vancouver Island) is a wonderful place to live!
*Spring 2021 Update*
I am currently recruiting 1-2 PhD students and 1-2 Postdoctoral researchers to my team for the 2022 academic year to work on climate change impacts in marine communities, focusing either on temperature marine communities in British Columbia or on tropical coral reef communities in the Pacific:
-British Columbia research is in development and will focus on kelp forest communities at Bamfield Marine Science Centre, and likely other locations. I welcome new ideas for projects.
-Tropical research could focus on the role of the coral microbiome in conferring resilience to corals subjected to thermal stress or how climate change is altering reef food webs, with a focus on my long-term field site Kiritimati (Christmas Island) or potentially new sites in the Pacific. For the coral research, I am particularly interested in candidates with backgrounds in molecular and/or microbial ecology, and with advanced quantitative skills, including bioinformatics and statistical modelling skills and proficiency with statistical programs such as R, Matlab, or Python. For the reef food web research, I am interested in candidates with backgrounds in food web ecology, stable isotope lab work and related analyses. Experience in coral reef ecosystems desired but not essential. **We are committed to enhancing equity and diversity in academia,
and encourage BIPOC candidates and other equity-seeking groups to apply to join our team.**
Prospective Post-doctoral Fellows: I encourage prospective post-doctoral fellows with excellent publication records and relevant skills to email me with a brief introduction, including details of your prior academic and research experience, as well as your research interests and professional goals and how you think these align with my research program. Please include a copy of your CV and a list of referees. Potential funding sources include NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowships (open only to Canadian citizens and permanent residents), Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships (open to all nationalities), the Liber Ero Fellowship (open to all nationalities; focused on a Canadian conservation challenge). I encourage prospective international post-doctoral fellows to investigate funding options from their home country.
Prospective Graduate Students: I encourage prospective PhD students with excellent qualifications to email me with a brief introduction, including details of your prior academic and research experience, as well as your research interests and goals for your graduate degree and how you think these align with my research program. Please also include a copy of your CV and transcript(s) (unofficial ones are fine) and a list of referees. Please note that due to the high volume of enquiries I receive from prospective students, I cannot respond to those enquiries that do not include this information.
You should also familiarize yourself with the process for applying for graduate school through UVic’s Department of Biology. Applications to UVic are accepted year-round but are due by March 15th each year in order to be eligible for internal graduate scholarships. I expect students joining my lab to be extremely competitive for these internal scholarships, as well as for scholarships from NSERC and other external funding sources (e.g. Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships; Fulbright). Applications for NSERC graduate scholarships are due in the early fall, for start dates the following May, September or January. Please note that I am not accepting MSc students for the foreseeable future.
Funding: Please note that, as is typical in the Canadian funding system, PI's grants do not cover the full costs associated with graduate student and post-doctoral fellows' stipends. Interested individuals therefore must be competitive for national and international scholarships/fellowships and apply for these, typically ~1 year in advance of the intended start date in my lab. I am happy to work with excellent candidates to develop scholarship/fellowship proposals, and I am also open to international collaborations with other coral reef researchers. My grants cover student and post-doctoral fellows' research costs, a laptop and monitor for each researcher, costs associated with conference attendance, and also often supplement PDF and student stipends to internationally competitive levels.
Note to UVic Undergraduate Students:
We usually have positions for a few undergraduate students each semester, ranging from work study positions and research assistantships to directed studies and Honours research, as well as summer NSERC USRA and SURA positions. I encourage interested students to start by volunteering with us a semester before they wish to begin formal positions in the lab. If you are interested in one of these positions, please email me with a copy of your CV and transcript(s) (unofficial ones are fine) and a list of referees. Please note that due to the high volume of enquiries I receive from prospective students, I cannot respond to those enquiries that do not include this information.
Thanks for your interest in our research and in joining the Baum Lab!
Mentoring graduate students and post-doctoral fellows is an integral component of my research program, and an important opportunity for me to help you to discover your true research interests and mature into an independent scientist. I aim to produce world class scientists and conservation leaders with excellent critical-thinking, quantitative, oral and written skills. I will invest a significant amount of time and energy in helping you to develop your research project, from the initial ideas and planning, through to statistical analyses, manuscript writing, conference presentations and outreach. I strive to create a stimulating and supportive research environment, providing my lab members with the time, space, resources and opportunities for them to succeed. Members of the Baum Lab are fortunate to work in our collaborative research environment shared with the Juanes lab, as well as our new molecular lab.
I have high expectations of my team members and I am highly selective about the people I accept into my lab. I expect you to be fully committed to your research, to be highly intelligent, curious, motivated and hard-working, to push through the tough times when they come, and to take ownership of your project, running hard with the ideas and opportunities with which I provide you. I ask that you be a good lab citizen, helping me to develop a productive, supportive, and collaborative research group, and contributing to academic life in the Biology Department and in the broader ecology community at UVic. I also expect lab members to contribute to society's understanding of ocean conservation and science in general through outreach activities. Grad school and post-doctoral research involve a lot of hard work, but should also be fun and rewarding experiences. UVic is a great university, enjoying a resurgence in ecology, and Victoria (which is situated on stunningly beautiful Vancouver Island) is a wonderful place to live!
*Spring 2021 Update*
I am currently recruiting 1-2 PhD students and 1-2 Postdoctoral researchers to my team for the 2022 academic year to work on climate change impacts in marine communities, focusing either on temperature marine communities in British Columbia or on tropical coral reef communities in the Pacific:
-British Columbia research is in development and will focus on kelp forest communities at Bamfield Marine Science Centre, and likely other locations. I welcome new ideas for projects.
-Tropical research could focus on the role of the coral microbiome in conferring resilience to corals subjected to thermal stress or how climate change is altering reef food webs, with a focus on my long-term field site Kiritimati (Christmas Island) or potentially new sites in the Pacific. For the coral research, I am particularly interested in candidates with backgrounds in molecular and/or microbial ecology, and with advanced quantitative skills, including bioinformatics and statistical modelling skills and proficiency with statistical programs such as R, Matlab, or Python. For the reef food web research, I am interested in candidates with backgrounds in food web ecology, stable isotope lab work and related analyses. Experience in coral reef ecosystems desired but not essential. **We are committed to enhancing equity and diversity in academia,
and encourage BIPOC candidates and other equity-seeking groups to apply to join our team.**
Prospective Post-doctoral Fellows: I encourage prospective post-doctoral fellows with excellent publication records and relevant skills to email me with a brief introduction, including details of your prior academic and research experience, as well as your research interests and professional goals and how you think these align with my research program. Please include a copy of your CV and a list of referees. Potential funding sources include NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowships (open only to Canadian citizens and permanent residents), Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships (open to all nationalities), the Liber Ero Fellowship (open to all nationalities; focused on a Canadian conservation challenge). I encourage prospective international post-doctoral fellows to investigate funding options from their home country.
Prospective Graduate Students: I encourage prospective PhD students with excellent qualifications to email me with a brief introduction, including details of your prior academic and research experience, as well as your research interests and goals for your graduate degree and how you think these align with my research program. Please also include a copy of your CV and transcript(s) (unofficial ones are fine) and a list of referees. Please note that due to the high volume of enquiries I receive from prospective students, I cannot respond to those enquiries that do not include this information.
You should also familiarize yourself with the process for applying for graduate school through UVic’s Department of Biology. Applications to UVic are accepted year-round but are due by March 15th each year in order to be eligible for internal graduate scholarships. I expect students joining my lab to be extremely competitive for these internal scholarships, as well as for scholarships from NSERC and other external funding sources (e.g. Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships; Fulbright). Applications for NSERC graduate scholarships are due in the early fall, for start dates the following May, September or January. Please note that I am not accepting MSc students for the foreseeable future.
Funding: Please note that, as is typical in the Canadian funding system, PI's grants do not cover the full costs associated with graduate student and post-doctoral fellows' stipends. Interested individuals therefore must be competitive for national and international scholarships/fellowships and apply for these, typically ~1 year in advance of the intended start date in my lab. I am happy to work with excellent candidates to develop scholarship/fellowship proposals, and I am also open to international collaborations with other coral reef researchers. My grants cover student and post-doctoral fellows' research costs, a laptop and monitor for each researcher, costs associated with conference attendance, and also often supplement PDF and student stipends to internationally competitive levels.
Note to UVic Undergraduate Students:
We usually have positions for a few undergraduate students each semester, ranging from work study positions and research assistantships to directed studies and Honours research, as well as summer NSERC USRA and SURA positions. I encourage interested students to start by volunteering with us a semester before they wish to begin formal positions in the lab. If you are interested in one of these positions, please email me with a copy of your CV and transcript(s) (unofficial ones are fine) and a list of referees. Please note that due to the high volume of enquiries I receive from prospective students, I cannot respond to those enquiries that do not include this information.