Dear Prospective Students,
Thank you for stopping by our website and for your potential interest in joining our team. We are always looking for passionate, clever, hard-working members to help us understand the interaction between ecology and evolution for salmonids in an era of rapid environmental change.
If you are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in Fisheries at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences please send me an email with your current CV and a brief personal statement of why you think you're a good fit for the SEEC team.
Please be aware, UAF policy requires that I only accept students if money is in place to cover stipend and tuition costs. If you are interested in starting graduate school in the fall, you need to be working to secure funding the previous fall and winter (yes, nearly a full year ahead of time!) There are an array of funding opportunities available and I am happy to help you any way I can. If you are still interested in applying to the SEEC Lab, I expect that you will make your education and work a major priority in your life, that you will bring your passionate and excitement to work every day (ok…almost every day), that you will sincerely care about answering questions of both basic scientific and applied conservation value, that you respect nature and the people around you, that you will both work and play hard!
Testimonials:
“Joining the SEEC Lab with Peter Westley as my advisor has been an ever expanding joyful experience where I’ve created new friendships, colleagues and have challenged myself to take on new responsibilities in my community. I started my master’s degree with a lot of unknowns. My grant funding had not been approved yet, I was unsure fisheries was the right place for me, and I was genuinely questioning how a master’s in fisheries would progress my career. Although Peter didn’t have all the answers to my questions, he pointed me in the right direction, and guided me through this process in a way that was digestible. What I’ve learned through my experience so far, is that it doesn’t all have to be figured out day 1, but that a passion for my project and enjoying the partnerships I’ve created along the way have made a graduate degree an attainable goal that I’m well on my way to achieving. Ultimately I am responsible for making my project happen and getting my degree, but I have always felt like Peter had my best interest in mind and has shown up for me when I’ve asked. This lab is truly a welcoming group to all and I have felt a genuine openness to all walks of life!"
- Madeline Lee, current advisee (MS)
"Peter is an awesome advisor, at least for my personal work-style. I like to be relatively independent but I ask lots of questions when working on the more challenging aspects of my project. We have meetings once every 1-2 weeks depending on what I’m working on and then I am free to work without being micromanaged during the rest of my time. But if I do have questions or get stuck, he is easy to get ahold of and will make time for me. With regards to the SEEC Lab as a whole, I’ve appreciated being part of a friendly and welcoming group of colleagues (friends) who push me to be a better scientist and human. I’ve also appreciated the expectation in our group that we make our work a priority, but that we make our health and well-being a priority as well."
-Molly Payne, SEEC Lab alumni MS