Hiring opportunities

​

Open undergraduate positions: Research Assistant

​

Unde

Undergraduate positions:

Job openings—plus get research experience!

 

The Grassland Ecology & Resilience Lab is looking for new research assistants, starting this summer with potential to start earlier. Opportunities include field work, climate change experiments, & learning transferable computer skills. No prior experience is necessary, if you’re interested, please apply. Pay is competitive & hours are often flexible.

 

To apply, email Zak Ratajczak at zarata@ksu.edu with:

1) a resume or CV, 2) an unofficial transcript 3) a couple paragraphs about yourself

For full consideration, apply by March 27th.

All applicants are welcome & students from historically under-represented groups are encouraged to apply.

​

​

Graduate positions:

​

 I do not currently have grant funding for new students, but still encourage interested students to contact me if they are interested in applying for competitive external fellowships.

​

​

Mentoring style:

 

I am best-suited to mentor students with interests in community ecology, grassland ecology, global change biology, or theoretical ecology. Students in the lab will have the opportunity to can gain skills that will serve you in biology and beyond, such as experience with writing and fieldwork, and technical skills in coding, data-visualization, math, and statistics. KSU has an impressive faculty that can provide further training in most areas of biology and environmental science. The lab also maintains strong connections with the Geography program at KSU, which provides additional avenues for research and outreach.

​

I maintain an open and relaxed mentoring style and work well with others who are passionate about science or conservation. My ultimate goal is that students will develop and test their own innovative research questions. The ability to pose innovative questions is a fundamental part of being a researcher or teacher. Therefore, I do not micromanage students and leave lots of room for students to be independent. I strive to create an environment where people (including myself!) are comfortable taking intellectual risks and are not afraid of “being wrong.” However, I also work to provide a broad base of support for the people I work with and will do whatever I can to help you succeed. 

​

Kansas State University and Manhattan KS:

 

The Division of Biology at Kansas State University is a rigorous and welcoming community of researchers with over 30 faculty. The graduate student body is diverse and active. The department is particularly strong in grassland ecology, with a large number of professors working on grasslands at scales from individual genes all the way through consumers and landscape patterns. Students are guaranteed funding for the duration of their graduate studies, assuming satisfactory progress towards degree. The stipend is generous (>$25,000 per year), especially considering that the cost of living in Manhattan KS is very affordable.

​

In the middle of the Flint Hills of Kansas, being a student at Kansas State University (KSU) provides a quality of life that might surprise people that have not visited before. The town of Manhattan KS has two downtown areas with great dining, cafes, and nightlife. Most housing is within one to two miles of these downtowns, at least one large grocery store, and KSU's recently renovated recreation center. In my experience, you can easily go all week without a car. Of course, you won’t be climbing any mountains nearby, but the Flint Hills boast large expanses of open grassland and has surprisingly steep topography, which makes for good hiking and access to lakes and rivers. Manhattan has easy access to Lawrence KS and Kansas City, which host many concerts and sporting events--ever notice that they are always cutting to Kansas City during the world cup? The local airport offers frequent services to travel hubs in Chicago and Texas.

​