Opportunities

I am excited to build a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive group focused on advancing equitable and climate-adapted conservation science across diverse social-ecological systems. You can learn more about my lab group, the Future of Working Landscapes lab, here.

Prospective graduate students

Graduate students can join the group through the Geography Department at CU Boulder (MA or PhD in Geography). I am also excited to work with students in the Earth Data Analytics Professional Graduate Certificate. More information on the graduate programs in Geography at CU and the admissions process can be found here.

If you are interested in working with me, please fill out this Google form. I will not respond to direct email inquiries, only to form responses (if you have technical issues with the form, please do email me at katherine.j.siegel@colorado.edu).

Funding

I encourage eligible applicants to apply for external funding, such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. CU also has a database of external fellowships to check out.

Advice for navigating the graduate admissions process

Choosing a graduate program and prospective advisor and then navigating the application and admissions process can be overwhelming, and there is a whole “hidden curriculum” of knowledge that prospective grad students are expected to know. Here are some resources that may help you during this process:

  • Estien et al. 2023 write about the hidden curriculum and provide advice on navigating the graduate school admissions process.
  • A First-Gen’s Guide to Grad School
  • Dr. Alex Moore’s Moore Inclusive Lab has resources on developing a research project, finding funding, the research and writing process, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.
  • Dr. Jacqueline Gill has a great blog post with advice for contacting potential grad school advisors, including an example of an inquiry email to introduce yourself

Prospective undergraduate students

I am excited to work with motivated and curious undergraduates who are interested in assisting on my ongoing projects or developing independent projects. I will update this section with more information on how to get involved once I arrive at CU Boulder.

Prospective postdoctoral fellows

Prospective postdocs will need to apply for their own funding, as I do not currently have funding to hire a postdoc. Potential funding sources to look into include the NOAA Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship, the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology or Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, and the Smith Conservation Research Fellowship Program. Lily Dove and Clare Singer have also put together a great document on how to find and apply for postdoc positions.

If working with me seems like a good fit for both of us, I am happy to provide feedback on proposal ideas and application materials. To start the conversation, please send me an email (katherine.j.siegel@colorado.edu) with a description of your current research, a brief description of your idea for a postdoc project and how it links to the lab’s work, and your CV.