Studying Here

Welcome!! Thanks for your interest in studying in our lab. I am eager to recruit well-qualified, energetic, and self-motivated staff members to our laboratory as graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, or visiting scientists. We maintain a large and internationally diverse staff addressing many research topics in regeneration and restoration of forest lands.

If you are a student interested in applying for graduate studies, you should have an undergraduate and/or MS degree in forestry, ecology, horticulture, or related field along with some practical or research experience. My preference is for PhD students with a drive to publish their research in peer-reviewed journals. However, prospective MS students with excellent credentials should also inquire.

My approach in mentoring graduate students is to invest time to recruit exceptional candidates, ensure that resources and support are made available for the program, and allow a high degree of independence for students to develop a creative and scientifically interesting project. Most of my past graduate students have published their research and gone on to secure good positions in natural resources.

Funding support for graduate studies is available through university of departmental scholarships, or through external grants. Native Americans (including Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islands) may be eligible for additional graduate support through the Sloan Foundation Indigenous Graduate Partnership at Purdue. Many scholarship applications have an application deadline of between November-January for admission in the coming fall semester – please visit our FNR departmental website for more information. Prospective post-doctoral researchers or visiting scientists are also encouraged to contact me with your interests. Funding from external grants may be available to support post-doctoral fellowships. I also welcome visiting international scientists [with a demonstrated record of excellence in research] that may wish to conduct a research sabbatical or short-stay in our laboratory – usually these scholars are expected to obtain most of the funding from their home institutions.

Please do not hesitate to contact me (djacobs@purdue.edu) to express your interest in studying here.