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Who is Recruiting?

Graduate students accepted to the department have usually emailed and/or talked with potential Ph.D. advisors prior to applying. Therefore, it is imperative to familiarize yourself with the research interests of EPS faculty members and contact a potential advisor whose research aligns with your interests the summer or fall before the application deadline. We recommend sending a short email briefly describing why a faculty member’s research program interests you, and your key qualifications. It can also be helpful to attach a resume or CV in any format, to provide more details about your background and accomplishments.

Below is a list of faculty who are actively seeking new Ph.D. students for Fall 2025. Check out their web pages and look through a few faculty publications prior to contacting potential advisors. These steps can help you to articulate what excites you about a faculty member’s research program. Do not be shy: we love hearing from enthusiastic future Ph.D.s!

Faculty Member Research Areas Methods & Approaches
Daniel Horton
  • Climate science
  • Climate change impacts
  • Extreme meteorological events
  • Air quality & public health
  • Natural hazards
  • Earth system modeling
  • Chemistry-climate modeling
  • Hydrologic and land surface modeling
  • Data science
Andrew Jacobson
  • Ca and Sr isotope geochemistry
  • Carbon cycling
  • Ocean acidification in deep time
  • Enhanced rock weathering
  • Thermal ionization mass spectrometry
  • Double-spike isotope dilution
  • Elemental analysis
Maggie Osburn
  • Geobiology
  • Microbial ecology
  • Organic geochemistry
  • Lipid analysis
  • DNA sequencing
  • Isotope analysis
Matthew Hurtgen
  • Atmosphere/ocean evolution in deep time including Neoproterozoic
  • Paleoclimatology
  • Global biogeochemical cycles
  • Astrobiology
  • C, S, P, N, Fe, and O cycles
  • Sedimentary geochemistry
  • Geochemical modeling
  • Linked atmo- hydro- geosphere studies
Steven Jacobsen
  • Mineral and materials physics
  • Offworld construction
  • Materials in extreme environments
  • High-pressure science
  • Spectroscopy
  • Synchrotron radiation
  • Electron microscopy