Agriculture Research Assistantships
A number of graduate assistantships are available for qualified full-time thesis-track Environmental Studies students. These assistantships are typically funded through research grants from state and federal agencies.
Graduate assistants are required to assist with research relevant to the grant objectives for 20 hours per week while attending classes, and full-time during the summer semester. Compensation packages include competitive stipends and in some cases tuition remission. Research opportunities are available in the following areas:
| Animal Science | Apiculture | Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems |
| Biomass | Bioenergy | Climate Change |
| Conservation Biological Control | Entomology | Food Systems |
| Forest Management | Fruit Crops | Fruit & Ornamental Plant Breeding |
| Food Safety | Forage | Genetics |
| Genomics | High Tunnels | Land Use Change |
| Organic Agriculture | Ornamental Plants | Water Quality |
Research opportunities are available with the following Graduate Faculty members (click name to contact) |
- Dr. George Antonious (pesticides residues, bioremediation, and erosion management)
- Dr. Shawn Lucas (organic vegetable production, farmscaping, and bioenergy)
- Dr. Maheteme Gebremedhin (environmental science, soil science)
- Dr. Buddhi Gyawali (land use and cover change, farm diversification and productivity, climate change adaptation and mitigation, application of GIS and remote sensing in ecosystems studies)
- Dr. Hideka Kobayashi (orchid breeding and cold adaption)
- Dr. Farida Olden (transcriptome profiling, gene expression, nutrigenomics, plant abiotic stress resistance, honeybee disorders)
- Dr. Kirk Pomper (fruit horticulture production, aquaponics, plant breeding, and biodiversity)
- Dr. Avinash Tope (food safety in produce)
- Dr. Thomas Webster (honey bee pathology and colony collapse disorder)
- Dr. Anuj Chiluwal (soil management and crop production)
- Dr. Marcus Bernard
- Dr. Chinonso Etumnu (e-commerce, entrepreneurialism, and agricultural adaptations to extreme weather and climate change)
- Dr. Atanu Mukherjee (soil and water quality, wetland biogeochemistry, and biochar technology)
- Dr. Theoneste Nzaramyimana (food systems, urban farmers, and small farms)
- Dr. Yun Jiang (beef cattle nutrition, rumen microbiome, and methane mitigation)
- Dr. Suraj Upadhaya (food, water, and energy nexus; ecosystem services; social-ecological systems (SES); sustainable systems; coupled human and natural systems; natural resources management and policy)
Contact the Environmental Studies program coordinator to learn more about MES graduate assistantships. Contact the Office of Financial Aid to learn about other assistance available to KSU students.